THE TWO-PART INVENTIONS OF J. S.

BACH: A PERFORMING EDITION BASED UPON THE KEYBOARD TECHNIQUE AND PERFORMANCE PRACTICE OF BACH AND HIS CIRCLE
by

DELANO K. KAHLSTORF, B.A., M.M. A DISSERTATION IN FINE ARTS Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved

Chairperson of the Committee

Accepted

Dean of the Graduate School August, 2002

;C) 2002, Delano K. Kahlstorf

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many people have been generous with assistance and encouragement in the preparation of this project, and they have my heartfelt gratitude. Dr. Lora Deahl provided much

good advice, encouragement, and hospitality as this study progressed. Drs. Linda Donahue, Wayne Hobbs, John

Stinespring, and William Westney were excellent to work with as a committee, and gave many helpful comments toward the improvement of various aspects of the project. The Texas

Tech University Graduate School staff and library staff were very supportive of my work and helped to make this a positive educational experience. This study would not have been undertaken without the development of a passion for the subject-matter. For this I

thank my parents, Kenneth and Helene Kahlstorf, who have wholeheartedly supported me in my educational goals from start to finish, including helping me to build my first harpsichord as a teenager. Thanks are also due to Kenneth

Wold, who nurtured my enthusiasm for music in general and the music of Bach in particular; to Robert and Helen Short, who gave me their classical record collectionincluding Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, the Well-Tempered Clavier, and many of the cantataswhen I was twelve; to harpsichordists Gustav

Leonhardt, Trevor Pinnock, and Edward Parmentier, whose recordings of the music of Bach and other Baroque masters have been, in various ways, an inspiration; and to Sandra Rosenblum, whom I have never met, but whose method in ii

Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music was a revelation to me. My family has been especially supportive during this process. I extend thanks to Heidi Kahlstorf and to William and Edith Trudgeon for their unceasing encouragement and help as I completed this paper, and to Stefan, Aidan, and Brendan Kahlstorf, who have consistently brightened my days. Finally, many, many thanks to Kathy Kahlstorf, who was willing to take this journey with me.

Ill

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF EXAMPLES CHAPTER I. THE INVENTIONS OF J.S. BACH: PEDAGOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND THE DESIRABILITY OF INCREASED HISTORICAL AWARENESS Pedagogical Significance The Desirability of Historical Awareness Scope and Methodology of the Present Study Prioritization of Eighteenth-Century Sources II. BAROQUE EMPHASIS UPON RHETORIC AND AFFECT Baroque Emphasis Upon Rhetoric Affect III. ARTICULATION AND THE IMPACT OF METRICAL PLACEMENT Articulation The Impact of Metrical Placement Upon Articulation BAROQUE FINGERING PRACTICES, HAND AND BODY POSITION Baroque Fingering Practices Hand and Body Position

ii vi viii

1 1 2 3 7

11 11 19

23 23 36 62 62 70

IV-

IV

V-

TEMPO CONSIDERATIONS AND APPLICABLE DANCE FORMS Tempo Considerations Applicable Dance Forms

74 74 78 105 105 105

VI.

DYNAMICS AND ORNAMENTS Introduction Dynamics and Ornaments

VII. EXPRESSIVE RESOURCES OF THE VARIOUS KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS Introduction The Clavichord The Harpsichord The Piano VIII.RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS STUDY FOR PERFORMANCE PRACTICE A Review of the Information Specific Application of the Collected Evidence to the Inventions BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A. B. A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN TWO-PART INVENTIONS BY J.S. BACH FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY, AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE 17 20 AUTOGRAPH ... 138 173 132 132 122 122 123 126 126

178 254

ABSTRACT

The Inventions of J.S. Bach are a set of miniature masterworks for keyboard instruments which form one of the pillars in the training of young keyboard players. The Inventions have been examined from several compositional and theoretical perspectives, and the present study does not focus primarily upon these concerns, but rather upon the keyboard technique and performance practice of Bach and his circle. It is essential that these technical and performance issues be examined, drawn together, and applied to the musical text if an adequate understanding of this repertoire is to be attained. The present study pulls together information from the primary sources, secondary sources, and from modern research. Differences of opinion between the various sources are noted and evaluated, and the information gleaned from this process is applied in detail to the Inventions. In order to communicate the results of this study as clearly as possible, an appendix contains a musical text upon which the results are explicitly diagrammed. Variant readings are incorporated as needed. Aspects of these pieces which are considered include differences between the two autograph sources, genres of the various pieces. Baroque fingering compared and contrasted with Bach's fingering, questions of articulation, the meaning of Bach's preface in the 1723 edition, and eighteenth-century performance practices which pertain to the performance of these pieces. Although choice of instrument undoubtedly has vi

an impact upon performance decisions, the question of which instrument to choose for the performance of the Inventions is not addressed in detail. Rather, the present study explores alternatives for performance which can be extracted from the relevant sources and applied to these pieces at the discretion of the performer.

Vll

LIST OF EXAMPLES 2.1 Examples of articulative patterns Quantz's treatise from 15

3.1

"String-like" slurs in the Inventions in D major and F minor 30 38

3.2 3.3

Typical Baroque scale-fingering pattern "Double measures" in the Passepied from the E-minor English Suite

43 47 found 49 52 53 .. 54

3.4 3.5

Comparison between 12/8 and 12/16 Normal Accentuation for the various meters in the Inventions

3.6 3.7 3.8

Allemande from the C-minor Partita Courante from the A-minor Partita Courante from the E-minor Partita, measures 1-9

3.9

Gique from the F-major English Suite

55

3.10 Prelude from the G-minor English Suite, measures 1-3 4.1 4.2 5.1 5.2 Fingering which "crosses over" 56 65 67 .. 82

Applicatio from W.F. Bach's Clavier-Biichlein Excerpts from "Metric Levels in Baroque Dances" (Premier) Menuet Croises from the Vingt-Deuxieme Ordre by Francois Couperin

86 88

5.3

Typical rhythmic patterns in the Sarabande

5.4
5.5 5.6 5.7

Sarabande from the C-minor Partita

Courante (Corrente) from the B-flat major Partita Courante (Corrente) from the E-flat major French Suite Courante (Corrente) from the G-major French Suite Vlll

90
92 93 94

5.8 5.9

Excerpts from "Model for the [French] Gigue Dance Rhythm" Typical rhythmic patterns for Giga I

95 97 98 101

5.10 Gigue from the F-major English Suite 5.11 Typical rhythmic pattterns for Giga II 5.12 Excerpts from "Alternate Model for the Giga II Dance Rhythm" 5.13 Gigue from the E-minor English Suite 5.14 Gigue from the A-major English Suite 6.1 6.2 6.3 Allemande from the F-major English Suite Prelude from the G-minor English Suite Style brise in the final measures of Allemande I from the Premier Livre de Pieces de Clavecin by Jean Philippe Rameau Two versions of the opening of Couperin's "Les Bergeries" Excerpt from Pieces de Clavecin (1724) by Rameau A possible use of prolonged touch in the F-major Invention Allemande from Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin by J.P. Rameau 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Prelude from the F-major English Suite Triplet version of the C-major Invention Giga II articulation "Normal" slurring for the E-major Invention Articulation from Variation 14 of the Goldberg Variations Comparison of the chosen articulation with syncopated patterns

102 103 104 106 108 109 116 118 120

6.4 6.5 6.6 8.1

139 140 142 150 156 158 159

IX

CHAPTER I THE INVENTIONS OF J.S. BACH: PEDAGOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND THE DESIRABILITY OF INCREASED HISTORICAL AWARENESS

Pedagogical Significance The fifteen Inventions of Johann Sebastian Bach form one of the most widely acknowledged bodies of literature deemed useful for the training of young pianists and other keyboard players. Pianists from the eighteenth century to the present

have valued these pieces for several reasons. First, the study of the Bach Inventions helps performers develop the ability to simultaneously play two well-developed independent melodic lines. As a result, the Inventions serve as a primer in the study and performance of tonal contrapuntal keyboard music. Second, these works comprise an effective introduction to several key elements of Baroque style, elements which include compositional use of melodic units which are organized around recurring motoric rhythmic motives, Baroque articulative practices, unity of affect, and Baroque trill, mordent, and other ornamentation. These elements are contained within a compact formal structure. Third, the Inventions provide the advancing pianist with an accessible window which opens onto the musical world of J.S. Bach, who is one of the most revered icons in the hagiography of the Western cultural canon.

The Desirability of Historical Awareness This corpus, assembled in 1720 along with approximately forty-five other pieces, was intended to instruct Bach's eldest son in keyboard technique, composition, and "cantabile" performance style.' In the intervening years between Bach's era and the present, countless pianists have benefited from the pedagogical and artistic influence which Bach exerted upon his son(s) through this set of pieces, entitled Clavier-Biichlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. During this time, musical styles have, naturally enough, evolved in a variety of ways. In particular, several nineteenth-century performance practices have become entrenched. These include a seamless legato as the normal mode of articulation (aided by the piano's sensitive damper pedal), tempos which range from extremely slow to extremely fast, use of the widest possible range of dynamics, and liberal use of rubato.' In addition, music conceived after Bach's era tends to emphasize flow between widely differing emotional states expressed through technical virtuosity, through tonal and formal ambiguity and complexity, and predominantly, though not exclusively, through homophonic textures.' Contemporary pianists, because they are removed from the cultural setting in which Bach lived and worked and heavily influenced by nineteenth-century performance and
'J.S Bach, Two and Three Part Inventions, facsimile edition (New York: Dover, 1968), v. The preface to the fair copy of the Inventions which Bach made in 1723 makes explicit these intentions. ' Sandra Rosenblum, Performances Practices in Classic Piano Music (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), 106, 120-21, 435n., 312, 334-5, 382. 'Leonard G Ratner, Romantic Music (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 3-10.

compositional practice, possess an ingrained tendency to view Baroque music through a conceptual framework which distorts and refashions it into something more in line with Romantic ideals. On the other hand, scholars in the current century, as inheritors of the Romantic passion for things historical, have uncovered an iitmiense deposit of information regarding the keyboard performance practices of J.S. Bach and his predecessors, contemporaries, and students. Harpsichordist

David Schulenberg comments that "no one would purposely ignore the tempo or dynamic markings in a Debussy piece. Yet one still hears (and teachers still teach) Bach's keyboard pieces played as if well-understood conventions regarding ornaments, rhythm, and other matters could be disregarded."' While an explicit reconstruction of Bach's particular style of performance for each piece of his oeuvre remains out of reach, it is now possible to utilize many of the basic stylistic parameters with which he and his circle were concerned. It is this drawing together of information from various interrelated endeavors and the specific application of it to the fifteen Inventions which forms the focus of the present study.

Scope and Methodology of the Present Study Eighteenth-century materials discussed in the course of this paper will include the Bach autograph sources of the Inventions, dated 1720 and 1723; C.P.E. Bach's Versuch liber

* David Schulenberg, The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992), 9.

das wahre Art das Clavier zu Spielen;'

selections from The

New Bach Reader, edited by H.T. David and A. Mendel, revised and expanded by Christoph Wolff;* and J.P. Kirnberger's Die

Kunst des Reinen Satzes in der Musik.' For a discussion of the methodology which was employed in the establishment of the musical text, see Appendix A. As mentioned above, the twentieth century has witnessed a profusion of musicological research pertaining to the keyboard music of J.S. Bach. Sources in this category to be considered include Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard by P. Badura-Skoda,^ Bach Interpretation: Articulation Marks in the J.S. Bach by J. Butt,' Baroque Music: J.S. Bach's Keyboard

Primary sources of

Style and Performance by R. Donington,"

Technique: A Historical Introduction by Q. Faulkner," Phrasing and Articulation by Hermann Keller,'' Dance and the Music of J.S. Bach by M. Little and N. Jenne,'' Bach and the Baroque, by A. Newman,'" The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach by
^ C.P.E. Bach, Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments William J. Mitchell, trans, and ed.(New York: W.W. Norton, 1949) . ' Hans T. David and Arthur Mendel, eds., The New Bach Reader Christoph Wolff, revised and expanded (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998). 'J. P. Kirnberger, Die Kunst des Reinen Satzes in der Musik Vol. II Part 1, 1776. David Beach and Jurgen Thym, Trans., The Art of Strict Musical Composition (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982). ' Paul Badura-Skoda, Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993). ' J. Butt, Bach Interpretation: Articulation Marks in Primary Sources of J.S. Bach (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). ' " Robert Donington, Baroque Music: Style and Performance (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1982). " Quentin Faulkner, J.S. Bach's Keyboard Technique: A Historical Introduction (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1984). " Hermann Keller, Phrasing and Interpretation (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1973). " Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne, Dance and the Music of J.S. Bach (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991). " Anthony Newman, Bach and the Baroque (New York: Pendragon Press, 1985).

D. Schulenberg,^' and An Introduction to the Performance of Bach by R. Tureck.'' Thus the present study will bring together information from the primary sources, pertinent secondary sources, and modern research. Differences of opinion between the various sources will be evaluated, and the information gleaned from this process will be applied in detail to the Inventions. In order to cormnunicate the results of this study as clearly as possible, an appendix will contain the musical text of the Inventions, upon which a possible interpretation will be constructed. Variant readings will be included where appropriate. Aspects of performance which will be considered include elements of phrasing and articulation, the impact of metrical placement upon articulation. Baroque fingering practices, what is known about Bach's hand and body position at the keyboard, tempo considerations, applicable dance forms. Baroque emphasis on affect and rhetoric, and dynamics. The presence of ornamentation within the fabric of these Inventions will be recognized, and the musical effect of ornaments will be considered, but the mechanics of executing each ornament will not be discussed comprehensively, since that topic has been thoroughly addressed elsewhere. Other topics (e.g., overdotting or assimilation of dotted notes to triplet figures) which do not impact the Inventions will not be addressed. It should be noted that this study is quite specific in that it focuses intently upon the stylistic traits found in a small group of
" David Schulenberg, The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach (New York: Schirmer Books, 1992). ' * Rosalyn Tureck, An Introduction to the Performance of Bach part 1, (London: Oxford University Press, 1960).

pieces, but it is also general in that it draws together evidence for the performance practices of Bach and his circle from a wide variety of endeavors. In this way it differs from Schulenberg's survey of Bach's keyboard music (which gives a general overview of hundreds of works) or Butt's analysis of Bachian articulative practices (which rigorously examines one aspect of performance and notation). The present study represents an attempt to gain a practical understanding of the several interpretive issues which pertain to a small yet pedagogically significant repertoire. Although choice of instrument will undoubtedly have an impact upon performance decisions, the issue of which instrument to choose for the performance of the Inventions will be scrutinized only briefly here. Instead, this study will explore several alternatives for performance which can be extracted from the relevant sources and then applied to these pieces at the discretion of the performer. This line of inquiry is not to be thought of as a binding set of rules which function as an interpretational straitjacket designed to ensnare the performer. Indeed, the attempt to impose such constraints upon the performer would be potentially counterproductive to an expressive performance and furthermore would be futile, since it is obviously impossible to recreate Bach's exact mode of performance. Rather, this approach to the interpretation of these little masterworks can serve as a matrix in which greater artistic creativity, centered within guidelines established through historical awareness, is possible. As J. Butt has aptly remarked with reference to articulation: "[Bach's] music will not be

destroyed by unidiomatic articulation, but so many more levels of detail and meaning can be discerned if we 'edit' and 'interpret' the music with at least some of the care and insight that Bach himself has shown."" This same attitude,

when extrapolated to each performance parameter for which evidence is extant, has the potential to deepen one's appreciation for the beauty and integrity of this repertoire.

Prioritization of Eighteenth-Century Sources The eighteenth century witnessed a gradual evolution from the High Baroque aesthetic principles of J.S. Bach, Handel, and others, toward the Classicism of the Viennese composers. J.S. Bach was aware of the beginnings of this evolution; however, when the Inventions were entered into the Clavier-Biichlein in 1720, most of the aesthetic trends which would animate the music of the Classic style were not yet firmly established.'' Furthermore, even a brief glance through the score of the Inventions will confirm that these are two-voice contrapuntal compositions in which each part maintains a high degree of melodic independence. This is a characteristic Baroque texture, but it is not a frequent mode of expression for the late eighteenth-century Classicists." As a result of these factors, it is appropriate to use only those sources which reflect a Baroque perspective toward performance when selecting stylistic information for application to the Inventions. Even evidence from Bach's son

" Butt, 212. " Donald J. Grout and Claude Palisca, A History of Western Music, 6th ed.(New York: W.W. Norton, 2001), 425-432. " Ibid.

Carl Philipp Emmanuel, his pupil Johann Philipp Kirnberger, and his biographer Johann Nicolaus Forkel must be weighed carefully, since these sources were influenced by the musical trends of the latter part of the eighteenth century. Yet, we ask, in the more objective reporting on matters of technique, what can we trust more? Surely not the ideas of Bach's contemporaries, most of whom never had anything to do with him. If we slight or dismiss the information provided us by C.P.E. Bach and Forkel (especially when all the relevant sources are in solid agreement about that information), what are we to substitute for it? Only our own opinions, which are likely to be far more speculative and arbitrary than their reports.'" When these (and other) sources report on a performance practice which they learned from J.S. Bach or a practice which can be shown to have been in common use during the early eighteenth century in Northern Germany, they can generally be relied upon, especially when another source confirms their claims. Other performance issues are discussed within these contemporary sources, however, and these may or may not be representative of the keyboard technique of J.S. Bach. Texts by Bach's close associates, students, and sons, as well as the primary sources themselves, receive the greatest consideration in this study. Additionally, it is known which music influenced Bach as a young man, because C.P.E. Bach wrote down a list of those influences: The departed, like myself or any true musician, was no lover of dry, mathematical stuff. The instruction received by the departed in Ohrdruf may well have been designed for an organist and nothing more. Besides Froberger, Kerl, and Pachelbel, he heard and studied the works of Frescobaldi, the Baden Capellmeister Fischer, Strunck, some old and
'Faulkner, 12.

good Frenchmen, Buxtehude, Reincken, Bruhns, and [crossed out: his teacher Bohm] the Liineburg organist Bohm.'' There are many other late Baroque sources for information about keyboard technique, but since some of these sources represent the varying regional (e.g., French, Italian, etc.) preferences of their era, they "are valuable for our purposes only insofar as they corroborate and amplify ideas of those within [Bach's] circle."'' In addition, the polyphonic nature of Bach's music and general lack of scale passagework in favor of motivic construction indicate that scale fingerings (as found in various 18th-century manuscripts and publications, including C.P.E. Bach's Versuch iiber die wahre Art das Clavier zu Spielen) are less valuable in determining fingering practices and basic articulation than are the few polyphonic works from Bach's circle which have been preserved." Despite this preference for a particular set of secondary sources, however, those sources which illuminate general facts about this literature (e.g., the rhythmic character of the gigue) will not be neglected. The order of preference for sources, then, is as follows: (1) autographs by Bach himself; (2) the texts and annotated musical manuscripts by Bach's associates, sons, and pupils, when they reflect a known German Baroque aesthetic perspective; and (3) the opinion of other respected Baroque authorities, such as Couperin, when they complement or expand information already acknowledged in the first or second source categories. This hierarchy represents an appropriate method by which to evaluate the pertinent evidence. In order
" David, Mendel, and Wolff, 398. "Faulkner, 12. = 'Ibid., 12.

that a picture which is representative of Bach's intentions may be developed, sources will be grouped according to performance topic in the following chapters.

10

CHAPTER II BAROQUE EMPHASIS UPON RHETORIC AND AFFECT

Baroque Emphasis Upon Rhetoric What is known as the "doctrine of figures" was a Baroque adaptation to music by musicians such as Christoph Bernhard and Johann Mattheson of the rules for rhetorical speech which had been established in antiquity by Aristotle and Quintilian. These consist of "standard devices that differ from ordinary speech and are introduced to render oratory more expressive and impressive."' It is not necessary for the present study to enter into the details of this topic, but a few general observations are in order. First, a "speechlike" articulation was preferred, even in purely instrumental music. Second, the object of this preference was the emphasis and clarification of the most important material (i.e., material was considered to be presented more clearly when it was articulated more distinctly) and by implication the downplaying of less important elements. Third, the doctrine of figures explicitly allowed for deviation from the normative metrical accentuation of a given passage, provided that the textual (or musical) meaning required that deviation.' Fourth, theorists such as Mattheson based their ideas regarding rhetoric in music upon the rhythmic patterns

' Willi Apel, The Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), 313. ^ See ibid., 313; Claude V. Palisca, Baroque Music, 2nd ed.(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 107-112; Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World: A History in Documents (New York: Schirmer Books, 1984), 187-189.

11

found in ancient Greek and Roman poetry.' j.N. Forkel provides information about the attitude eighteenth-century musicians held in regard to the importance of a rhetorical understanding of musical material: If we hear the same piece played by ten equally skillful and practiced performers, it will produce, under the hand of each, effect. Each will draw from the instrument a different kind of tone, and also give to these tones a greater or less degree of distinctness. Whence can this difference arise, if otherwise all ten performers have sufficient readiness and practice? Merely from the mode of touching the instrument, which, in playing on the clavier, is the same thing as the pronunciation in speech. In order to make the delivery perfect in playing as well as in declaiming,the greatest distinctness is required in the production of the tones as in the pronunciation of the words. But this distinctness is susceptible of very various degrees. Even in the lowest degrees we can understand what is played or said; but it excites no pleasure in the hearer because this degree of distinctness compels him to some exertion of his attention. But attention to single notes or words ought to be rendered unnecessary that the hearer may direct it to the ideas and their connection, and for this we require the highest degree of distinctness in the production of single tones as in the pronunciation of single words.' The Baroque doctrine of figures, as applied to keyboard performance, allowed the performer to hold the interest of the listener through varied yet distinct articulation in the manner of an orator, which highlighted the most important musical material. Scholars recognize that the doctrine of figures permeated the acts of composition and performance by J.S. Bach and his circle, as the following statements illustrate:
' George Houle, The Musical Measure as Discussed by Theorists from 1650 to 1800, unpublished diss. (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms Inc., 1960), 131-142. ' David, Mendel, and Wolff, 431.

12

[T]he remarks of (e.g.) J.G. Walther are now examined by musicologists not to suggest that in their early years together in Weimar both Walther and J.S. Bach were involved in figurae as compositional elements per se, but to demonstrate that what older theorists had said was still alive and that their motif-lists (insofar as there was such a thing) implied one or another Affekt in the rhetorical palette of music...But the significance of figurae lies... in the more down-to-earth details of composing and playing.' Bach's knowledge of rhetoric and its relation to music is unequivocally recorded by the Leipzig lecturer in rhetoric, Birnbaum, a great supporter of Bach.... [H.H.JEggebrecht also cites the title-page of the Inventions as a direct allusion to rhetorical art.... Inventlo is the basic idea to be expressed... Elaboratlo is the basic skeleton of the piece... Decoratlo is the continuation of the same process, adding details... Elocutio is the performance.... The direct link between musical ideas, composition and performance seems a crucial factor in any study of Bach's performance practice." This last sentence, in other words, states that performances of a piece of music composed during the Baroque era were linked in the minds of musicians to the compositional process through a set of shared assumptions about "The hierarchies of accent... [which] can be viewed as grammatical... oratorical or logical... and pathetic.,.-"' These hierarchies of accent, as has become apparent, were implied by slurs or by figures which by custom received particular articulative treatments. David Schulenberg claims that ...[M]odern harpsichordists follow the suggestions of writers such as the flutist Quantz (1752), who offered specific articulation patterns for a large number of motivic gestures, the articulation
- Peter F. Williams, "Figurae in the Keyboard Works of Scarlatti, Handel and Bach: An Introduction," in Bach, Handel, Scarlatti: Tercentenary Essays, ed. Peter Williams (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 328. ' Butt, 16. ' Ibid., 6.

13

depending upon the rhythm and melodic intervals of the line. The variety of figuration in most Bach works inevitably leads to great variety in articulation patterns. Hence, it is potentially misleading to characterize melodic lines in Bach's keyboard music simply as legato or non-legato." Quantz's treatise proves to be quite instructive as regards the normal manner for performing various figurae in

the first half of the eighteenth century. One entire chapter, entitled Extempore Variations on Simple Intervals, consists

of hundreds of figures with articulations explicitly marked which Quantz claims were the basic ways in which a performer embroidered a melodic line. In other words, they also represent the typical manner of articulating in places where no slurs or dots are present (see Example 2.1). It should be noted that Quantz's examples corroborate the principles of articulation which will be discussed in Chapter III. The groupings found in Example 2.1 may help the modern student of this repertoire begin to develop a method for articulating the music of Bach with something at least approximating idiomatic "pronunciation" of the common figures. The lack of articulative information present in most musical scores of the era is an indication, according to Butt, that ...performers were clearly educated in all conventions of performance practice and, as composition was so often taught in conjunction with performance, their understanding of the music itself might have been deeper than is usual today- This latter point seems particularly relevant to keyboard performance, for thoroughbasslearned at the keyboardwas perhaps the most universal means of compositional instruction.... Furthermore,

Schulenberg, 16.

14

Example 2.1: Examples of articulative patterns from Quantz's treati< On Playing the Flute.

lH#t&=Ut^psil^^^^

i
10

^1"^

t.^m^^n-^
n

f^fa^^Wffiii ' i^Til^^i .

f-^
r^

f^-F-

m^
14

13

r^tnxi
3 3 3 3

22

23

24

25
W^mW-

f:^

^a
15

ffl

~zz

Example 2 . 1 . Continued.

27

28.

mm
34 i-P-T

^f.Mifl:^^r

m-W_m^^m_^_^W m

3 3 ^ 3 3

^^^^,-j^^^6p
40

f
42

wmm
i^fc^
g
49
50

48

iff

^ ^

?4

51

3 3 3

^ ; I ItacS^^j-^ffgf^^ ffi
16

Example 2 . 1 . Continued.

54

Cni^^t:
57 ^ 58

r\

56

'fy-

r_i_ll^^^^
59
0-4t

g^-^-4ffla^- ^ " g ^ ^ ^
60

m^^-mX

Chapter XIII: "Of Extempore Variations on Simple Intervals." London: Faber, 1966, 136-161.

17

improvisation was a considerable element of the player's technique....' Peter Williams makes a valuable observation in regard to figurae and the discontinuities which can exist between

modern and Baroque understandings of their proper performance: Indeed, even when a line looks unbroken and continuous, it will generally be found to be made up of such figurae, and it may well have been understood to be broken and discontinuous. A particularly good example is the scale, for a scale is no more than a pattern of adjacent notes, rising or falling, less or more extensive. Before it became customary for all performers to practise the gamut of scalesa topic itself worth a major study--any line of adjacent notes was likely to have a much more carefully thought-out function and character.'" These frequently unstated Baroque assumptions about the performance of figures were not intended to limit the player's expressivity, however. Butt comments on the fact that the emotional character of a movement will impact the performance of figures: Writers constantly emphasize the importance of interpreting correctly the Affekt of a piece, and here the performer's choice of appropriate articulation is vital. Conventional 'figures of speech' in the music may well have been associated with a particular articulation or delineation. Some such 'figures' may further have received different stresses or pronunciation according to their place in the musical structure. In all, the performance required the same clarity of pronunciation as would have been necessary in a verbal delivery." An entire volume could be devoted to the compositional use of figures in the music of Bach, with focus upon specifics of articulation and affect. For the purposes of the
' Butt, 51. " Williams, Figurae, 338. " Butt, 207.

1!

present study, however, some general observations will be adequate. First, Bach (along with his colleagues Walther and Birnbaum) was aware of the relationship between music and rhetoric, and undoubtedly his students and his circle in general were acquainted with the principles established by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century theorists. Second, various figurae were considered to portray specific affects, and were likely to have been articulated in characteristic ways. Quantz's treatise can serve as a practical guide for many common figurae. Third, performers were taught

composition in conjunction with keyboard studies, and this training would have included the whole spectrum of performance issues which are the focus of the present study. Finally, modern research has not exhaustively demonstrated how the various figurae were performed in specific

circumstances, but what is certain is that clarity and variety of articulation were highly prized, and the articulative parameters which Bach and his contemporaries worked within, in general, have been established. (See the discussion of articulation and metrical placement in Chapter III. )

Affect A quotation from C.P.E. Bach's Essay serves as an introduction to the topic of affect in Baroque music: What comprises good performance? The ability through singing or playing to make the ear conscious of the true content and affect of a composition. Any passage can be so radically changed by modifying its performance that it will be scarcely recognizable.... Good performance, then, occurs when one hears all 19

notes and their embellishments played in correct time with fitting volume produced by a touch which is related to the true content of a piece. Herein lies the rounded, pure, flowing manner of playing which makes for clarity and expressiveness." Affect, passion, or sentiment, were terms used by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century authors when they discussed human emotion. The philosopher Descartes, in Passions of the Soul^ attempted to classify the various emotions. Thus: There are only six simple and primitive passions, i.e., wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy, and sadness. All the others are composed of some of these six, or are species of them. That is why, in order that their multitude may not embarrass my readers, I shall here treat the six primitive passions separately; and afterwards I shall show in what way all the others derive from them their origin.'^ Descartes described the emotions as objective phenomena, and this description was very influential in the rational intellectual climate of the Enlightenment. Johann Mattheson, a German musician (1681-17 64) applied Descartes' theory to music, giving an intellectual base to the idea of unified affect within a piece of music, and frequently identifying emotional states with particular dance forms." What the passions are, how many there are, how they may be moved, whether they should be eliminated or admitted and cultivated, appear to be questions belonging to the field of the philosopher rather than the musician. The latter must know, however, that the sentiments are the true material of virtue, and that virtue is nought but a well-ordered and wisely moderate sentiment. Those affects, on the other hand, which are our strongest ones, are not the best and
" C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 148. " Descartes, Passions of the Soul, in Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World, 212-217. " Johann Mattheson, Der volkommene Capellmeister, in Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin, Music in the Western World, 217.

20

should be clipped or held by the reins.... For it is the true purpose of music to be, above all else, a moral lesson. Those who are learned in the natural sciences know how our emotions function physically, as it were. It would be advantageous to the composer to have a little knowledge of this subject. Since, for example, joy is an expansion of our vital spirits, it follows sensibly and naturally that this affect is best expressed by large and expanded intervals. Sadness, on the other hand, is a contraction of those same subtle parts of our bodies. It is, therefore, easy to see that the narrowest intervals are the most suitable. Love is a diffusion of the spirits. Thus, to express this passion in composing, it is best to use intervals of that nature. Hope is an elevation of the spirit; despair, on the other hand, a casting down of the same. These are the subjects that can well be represented by sound, especially when other circumstances (tempo in particular) contribute their share. Pride, haughtiness, arrogance, etc., all have their respective proper musical color as well. Here the composer relies primarily on boldness and pompousness... [with] bombastic movement.... and always ascending [figures]. The opposite of this sentiment lies in humility, patience, etc., treated in music by abject-sounding passages without anything that might be elevating. The latter passions, however, agree with the former in that none of them allow for humor and playfulness. Music, although its main purpose is to please and to be graceful, must sometimes provide dissonances and harsh-sounding passages.... The spirit occasionally derives some peculiar pleasure even from these." That Mattheson's views were accepted in Bach's circle can readily be demonstrated by a perusal of treatises by J.G. Walther, C.P.E. Bach, and Kirnberger (who was even more explicit in identifying particular intervals and textures with specific emotional states than Mattheson was). It is generally understood, as well, that in the conventions of

Ibid., 218. 21

opera seria this type of codification of emotion in music was spread throughout Europe." What application does an understanding of what is known as the "Doctrine of the Affections" have for Bach's Inventions? Perhaps some very basic illustrations will begin to answer this question: One who understands the expanding and ascending intervals used in the opening of the F-major Invention to be indicative of joy and hope will hardly be able to play this piece in a subdued fashion. Conversely, the recurring "sigh" motifs in the counter-subject of the C-minor Invention signal a loss of hope which does not seem particularly compatible with a fast, driving tempo. Prominent motifs which exemplify the principles set down by Mattheson and others (many of which, like the "sigh" motif, are still part of an assumed musical language in cultures influenced by the Western artistic tradition) can thus become clues which, when combined with other clues, guide the performer toward a deeper understanding of the true affect of this repertoire."

" Ibid., 217. " A related concept for Baroque musicians was the idea that each keyas a result of the inequality present in the tuning systems of the daypossessed its own peculiar quality. Laurette Goldberg, in The Well-Tempered Clavier of J.S. Bach: A Handbook for Teachers and Performers (Berkeley, California: Center for Historically Informed Performances, Inc. 1995) 91-92, includes a listing of key symbolism, portions of which will be included in Chapter VIII of the present study.

22

CHAPTER III ARTICULATION AND THE IMPACT OF METRICAL PLACEMENT

Articulation Before venturing into this topic it is necessary to clarify a few of the terms which will be used. Rosalyn Tureck states that "Only one kind of legato exists.... [But] there are many kinds of staccato...."' She is right, of course. Notes cannot be partially connected; they can only be entirely connected or else they exhibit varying amounts of disconnectedness. Nevertheless, the literature which deals with the subject of articulation in Baroque music uses the term "semi-detached" to denote the midpoint between pure legato and sharp staccato with enough frequency that it would be cumbersome to insist upon another term in the present study (though non-legato, which seems less inaccurate, is also found with some frequency in the literature). The reader is therefore reminded that when the term "semi-detached" is found in quotations in the following pages, the laws of nature are not somehow intended to be broken so that two sounds are separated from each other while, in some way, remaining joined together! Phrasing and articulation are two terms which must be understood and differentiated, Robert Donington's remarks on the subject are helpful here: To inflect the line means to respond to its implicit patterns. One way of making these patterns audible is by phrasing and articulation. Phrasing groups the notes into units of more or less
' Tureck, 6. See also Keller, 51, for a discussion of non-legato.

23

substantial extent. Articulation distinguishes individual notes, or groups them into units of brief extent. Both [of] these are aspects of the same musical resource, which consists in breaking the flow of the sound by separating it into units (ranging from single notes, through pairs of notes or threes or fours or more, to complete phrases), which in turn are compounded into sections and movements.' In this study, articulation will be understood to mean small groups of notes which are slurred or detached. The term "phrase", on the other hand, will be understood to indicate a musical gesture or "sentence" which most likely will include more than one articulative group. Many modern pianists, as a result of the instruction they receive and the stylistic traits of the majority of the repertoire which they study, frequently make a blanket assumption regarding the primacy of pure legato, using other articulations for variety. Others, attempting to enter what they believe to be the spirit of Baroque keyboard performance practice, play nearly everything staccato. Neither was typical in the first part of the eighteenth century, however. C.P.E. Bach states There are many who play stickily, as if they had glue between their fingers. Their touch is lethargic; they hold notes too long. Others, in an attempt to correct this, leave the keys too soon, as if they burned. Both are wrong. Midway between these extremes is best. Here I speak in general, for every kind of touch has its use....' Tiirk,' Mattheson,' and Marpurg," each of whom were familiar

' Donington, 29-30. ^ C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 149. * Daniel Gottlob Tiirk, School of Clavier Playing, Raymond H. Haggh, trans. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983), 345. " Johann Mattheson, Kleine General Bass Schule, (Hamburg, 1735), 72. In Faulkner, 5. ' Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg, Anleitung zum Clavierspielen, 2nd ed (Berlin: Haude und Spener, 1765), 26. In Faulkner, 5.

24

with early eighteenth-century performance practice issues, in their respective treatises corroborate C.P.E. Bach's statement: Ordinary articulation is neither legato (in the modern sense) nor clearly detached. Other types of articulation, such as sharp staccato or pure legato, were considered useful in order to create contrasts or in passages where the tempo, affect, or genre of the piece demanded them: varied articulation was the prime vehicle for expressivity in this repertoire. ...[Bach scholar Ludger] Lohmann considers the concepts of 'legato' and 'staccato- to be later modifications of the standard metrical hierarchy, legato slurring being derived from ornamental string bowings. However, he is always at pains to point out the accentual implications of slurs, the first note of a slur being stressed and the last shortened; he sees a fundamentally legato style as developing only in the later eighteenth century, its earlier uses being connected only with a specific Affekt. Modification of the fundamental articulation dictated by the 'grammatical' accents might depend on the shape of the motifs, the Affekt and genre, the acoustics and dynamics and the speed of the notes concerned; for instance, the second smallest note value is often articulated more sharply than the smallest note value. The basic conventions of metrical accentuation should never be obscured, however....^ Zehnder correctly identifies variety and subtlety of articulation as hallmarks of good performance of Baroque music: The most difficult aspect of this performance style, it seems to me, is the subtle variation necessary in touch. A uniform non-legato becomes just as monotonous as a continuous legato. ... A performer may employ legato and yet create music that is totally unmelodic; conversely, one may experience an intense musical continuity by using the markedly nonlegato fingerings of Buchner (c.1510). What is most
' Butt, 6.

25

painful is to hear playing which is both non-legato and unmelodic!" C.P.E. Bach notes that In general the briskness of allegros is expressed by detached notes and the tenderness of adagios by broad, slurred notes. The performer must keep in mind that these characteristic features of allegros and adagios are to be given consideration even when a composition is not so marked, as well as when the performer has not yet gained an adequate understanding of the affect of a work [but] I am aware that all kinds of execution may appear in any tempo....' In general, detached notes appear mostly in leaping passages and rapid tempos....'" Generally speaking, slurred notes appear mostly in stepwise passages and in the slower or more moderate tempos." These remarks are corroborated by J.P- Kirnberger: music intended to be performed in a slower tempo is most likely to contain legato passages, while faster music will have a tendency to be performed in a more detached manner. Sandra Rosenblum's survey of performance practices in classic piano music is of value to the present study because she is careful to thoroughly trace the sources of the classic style, of which the articulative practices of Bach's circle are an essential component. Rosenblum provides a very useful chart of articulative preferences in the eighteenth century until 17 90." The information in this chart is gleaned

primarily from treatises by C.P.E. Bach, Tiirk, Quantz, and Koch, all of whom were part of the "North German School" and the first three of whom were part of J.S. Bach's circle. The
' Jean-Claude Zehnder, "Organ Articulation in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries", Part II , in The American Organist, Vol. 17, No. 12: 45. ' C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 149. " Ibid., 154. " Ibid., 155. " Rosenblum, 144-147.

26

salient points from this source are summarized here (see Example 2.1 for musical examples taken from Quantz's treatise which illustrate many of these practices): Faster tempos were more likely to feature detached articulation; slower tempos were more likely to include a predominantly legato texture, but with short slurred groups rather than continuous legato. Stepwise motion is conducive to a more legato interpretation, while leaps larger than a third are more conducive to detached articulation (but leaps in slower tempos are somewhat likely to be legato). A dissonance usually entailed a legato resolution." In a piece with two note values (e.g., eighth and sixteenth notes) the slower value is most likely to be detached, while in a piece with three note values (e.g., quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes) the middle value is most likely to be detached. Slurs did not go over the barline, especially if they formed an upbeat to the next measure.'" Schulenberg's statement, relevant to this aspect of Bach interpretation, is worth noting here: Motives or figures that cross the barline or straddle more than one harmony need not be slurred in order to retain their integrity; indeed many motives are defined by a specific combination of slurred and unslurred notes (e.g., groupings of sixteenths in patterns of 1 + 3 or 3 + 1). In such a combination the little articulations or silences preceding and following the slur do not break up the gesture but become part of It. By the same token, slurring into a beat is not the only way to join upbeat to downbeat in a single gesture: indeed, detached upbeats are

"Butt, 54. In a similar vein. Butt adds that appoggiaturas or dissonant passing tones "require a legato resolution and these, most common of occurrences, may or may not receive slurs...." '"Rosenblum, 144-147.

27

clearly the rule In the music of Bach and probably all Baroque composers." [emphasis added] Robert Donington adds Normal accentuation results from a momentary silence of articulation followed by a dynamic emphasis. Organs and harpsichords, having little control by touch over dynamic level, simulate accentuation successfully by the silence of articulation alone. The effect of accentuation can be further increased by prolonging the note which carries or simulates the accent: this is sometimes called 'agogic accent'.'^ The summary of Rosenblum's chart continues: A note could be emphasized by detaching (shortening) the note before it. Recurring motives had the same articulation at each appearance, unless otherwise noted by the composer, while contrasting motives had contrasting articulations. These conventions tended to be observed whether or not they were so marked in the score." Later, Rosenblum discusses slurs in more depth: Slurs are given a "string-like" interpretation, with the beginning receiving an accent or stress while the end contained an explicit release.' Schulenberg concurs, adding that small articulative units inform the "phraseology" of the music: Each slur marks a small, indivisible motivic unit usually consisting of the arpeggiation of a single harmony or the embellishment of one note (e.g., through an appoggiatura). This function of the slur, recognized as early as 1925 by Schenker..., should probably take precedence over "phrase marks" that one might be inclined to add as a result of motivic analysis.... " "
' ^ Schulenberg, 15. " Donington, 38. "Rosenblum, 144-147. " Ibid., 172. " Schulenberg, 15. See also Butt's summary of Lohmann's remarks dealing with the impact of metrical placement upon phrasing.

28

When slurs are notated, as they are in Bach's Inventions in C-minor, D major, F minor, A major, and B minor, they indicate a string-like interpretation (see Example 3.1): the first note is stressed, while the last note is unstressed, as if the phrase were taken "all in one bow."' This approach to legato phrasing, in which initial stress (on a beat) is followed by relaxation, will later be seen to impact semi-detached note groupings as well. Descriptions and notation of string-like slurs in keyboard music appear as early as 1624 in Samuel Scheldt's Tablatura Nova. Jean-Claude

Zehnder claims that "Virtually all slurs in German keyboard music up to Bach can be interpreted in this string-like manner."" C.P.E. Bach corroborates this practice: Patterns of two and four slurred notes are played with a slight, scarcely noticeable increase of pressure on the first and third tones. The same applies to the first tones of groups of three notes. In other cases only the first of the slurred notes is played in this manner." J.S. Bach himself, in his introduction to the 1723 autograph of the Inventions, states that these pieces are written "especially for those desirous of learning... above all to arrive at a singing [or cantabile] style of playing.""

Bach's friend J.A. Birnbaum asserts that Bach's keyboard performances were cantabile." In addition, E.L. Gerber contrasts the continuity of Bach's method of playing with that of the organist Schroter, who "played everything on the organ staccato."" The combination of this evidence would
" zehnder. Part I: 29. " Ibid., 29. " C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 154. " J.S. Bach, Two and Three Part Inventions, facsimile edition, v. "David, Mendel, and Wolff, 341-3. ''Ibid., 243.

29

Example 3.1: "String-like" slurs in the Inventions in D major and F minor. Invention in D major, BWV 774

Invention in F minor, BWV 780

^^Hl^^^

^0^^^^^^m

&

From the New Bach Edition, ed. by Georg Dadelsen. Kassel; Barenreiter-Verlag, 1982.

30

point to a highly articulate keyboard technique which, in performance, gave the impression of continuity, especially in the acoustically "live" ecclesiastical environments which were home to the organ, but also when other keyboard instruments were used. It should be noted that perception of smoothness varies with the expectations of the hearer. An illustration of this can be found in Beethoven's frequently quoted perception of Mozart's style of performance at the piano: Mozart, in his letters, emphasized the desirability of cantabile performance, with phrases which "flow like oil." Yet, when Beethoven heard Mozart play, he found the performance was dry, choppy, and unsuited to the piano.'^ Beethoven's expectations were shaped by the very legato piano playing which became stylish at the end of the eighteenth century, while Mozart's performance reflected his inheritance of preClassic and Baroque practices. It is quite likely that, in terms of articulation, Bach's mode of performance would be closer to that of Mozart than that of Beethoven, with an important difference: the perpetually flowing contrapuntal texture, rhythmic structure, and unity of affect which were typically present in the music of Bach would have lent an atmosphere of continuity, while the very different aesthetic ideals of Mozart's Classicist compositions would have resulted in an aural effect which had become unfashionable by the last years of the eighteenth century. The Baroque approach to slurring is directly related to the Baroque understanding of the word "cantabile," used by
Sandra Rosenblum, 22-24.

31

Bach in his preface to the 1723 copy of the Inventions and Sinfonias. Cantabile (in a singing manner) to the Baroque

musician was speechlike rather than uniformly smooth, as the following remarks show: ...be wary of assuming 'cantabile' in Bach's music to refer to a continuous legato. The importance of words and the 'grammatical' accentuation of the music suggest that clarity is perhaps the major component of the style." ...[A]bove all a singer knows that it is is necessary to breathe and articulate (or declaim) well. It is of the utmost importance for him to discern the right breathing pauses in the music or the text Far from being felt as obtrusive, such pauses permit the music to 'breathe', and impart to it an 'eloquent' kind of expression that differs markedly from the monotonous way in which music is often rattled off at the piano. Above all, a good singer must take an interest in the relationship between the words and the music. Often it is only the text which 'explains' the affection...." ...Bach's notion of cantabile style was evidently broad enough to include both the sighing half-steps of Sinfonia No. 9 and the rapid arpeggios of Invention No. 10 and Sinfonia No. 15. Hence, the use of the word in Bach's title cannot imply the predominance of legato articulation or "expressive" dynamic nuances, though it may remind us that hardly anything in the pieces goes beyond what was considered suitable for the voice in the early eighteenth century.'' Rosenblum, taking her cue from C.P.E. Bach's Essay (to a certain extent), advises the performer of eighteenth-century keyboard music to sing melodic lines "perhaps adding scat syllables. The voice will find the groups of notes which feel indivisible (legato), the natural separations between groups.

Butt, 15. Badura-Skoda, 131 Schulenberg, 151.

32

and the notes that require individual articulation (nonlegato and staccato)."'" As the eighteenth-century sources make clear, an understanding of the issues related to articulation in this repertoire is of the greatest importance. Yet this is not a task without obstacles, since many of the Bach sources contain a fair amount of articulative ambiguity: [Georg von Dadelsen and Alfred Durr] readily admit that considerable problems arise in interpreting Bach's articulation markings and... no edition can reflect the original merely by means of diplomatic transcription, so incomplete and hastily drawn are many of Bach's slurrings.... [Yet Dadelsen has observed that] most instances of inconsistent articulation are related to minor matters of performance technique... [while] markings which

relate more to the principal character of the music and its motifs show more sign of regularity and
order.^"^ [emphasis added] This is pertinent to this study for a couple of reasons: first, there are instances of articulative ambiguity in the Inventions (e.g., D-major); second, Dadelsen's italicized remark alludes to the idea that regularity of articulation (i.e., according to the conventions of the era) is more foundational to an understanding of this repertoire than possible minor exceptions. Butt's summary of research by Ludger Lohmann explicitly makes this point: Although Lohmann generally considers articulation marks to indicate exceptions to the conventions of articulation, he sometimes accepts that they may indicate or clarify a regular system of

accents. Indeed, he sees this as a primary function of articulation marks in Bach's pedagogic works.'^
[emphasis added]
" Rosenblum, 147. " Butt, 3-4. A comparison of printed editions with the autograph facsimile of the D major Invention illustrates these points. " Ibid., 6.

33

The above conclusions notwithstanding, an element which causes indecision in the performance of Baroque keyboard music is found, as Quentin Faulkner admits, in the fact that the effect which is created may contrast with the manner by which it is made to occur: In discussing articulation it is again necessary to draw the distinction between, on the one hand, the aurally perceived effect of phrasing... and, on the other, the basic presuppositions regarding proper articulation that may have been held by performers in general in any given period or school. The former must always remain in large measure a matter of conjecture Concerning the latter, however, there is extant evidence from contemporary sources that we may examine in order to form a general impression of opinion and practice." The performer thus has both freedom and responsibility in the interpretation of this music: freedom to create an aural effect which is in accord with an informed aesthetic sensibility; and responsibility to make appropriate decisions about (among other things) the application of articulative details. Zehnder reminds the reader of the rationale behind highly developed articulative details: From the point of view of the musical structure, it is of relevance that slurs occur more frequently in the treble than in the bass. Passages with slurs contain a melodic-soloistic element; the bass, on the other hand, principally had a fundamental function in the era of figured bass practicethat is, generally longer note values than the upper parts, [so the bass notes] demand a clearer articulation. " From these remarks, it is possible to draw the conclusion that increased attention to articulative detail through the application of short slurs at a given point by a performer
" Faulkner, 39. " Zehnder, Part I, 31. And, by extension, when slurs are present in the bass, they tend to indicate that the bass material is of some importance, and requires a more soloistic treatment.

34

will naturally draw the attention of the listener to that same point, because the "melodic-soloistic" nature of the material has been made explicit. What do long slurs indicate? Butt's remarks, directly applicable to the Inventions, are as follows: Longer groups of semiquavers are also implied in [the F- minor Invention], where continuous semiquavers up to a bar's length are slurred together; this contrasts quite strongly with the shorter slurs in the Friedemann notebook, in which each beat is articulated. There is no evidence that the earlier marking is a shorthand for the later, implying a 'general legato' (as Fuch 1985 p. 112 affirms). Indeed, Bach seems likely to have used longer slurs as a shorthand for shorter slurs." Schulenberg agrees: Slurs pose editorial problems, and therefore questions of interpretation, in Inventions Nos. 3 (D) and 9 (F-minor). Bach added the slurs only when making the fair copies.... But precisely because he did not take care to place them over well-defined groups of two or three notes, the slurs are likely to have been meant to apply to long[er] groups They do not, however signify a continuous or unbroken legato, for articulations must still fall before and after each slur. Even in these cases the notes beneath each slur represent but a single harmony (except in bar 4 of Invention No. 9). Each slurred figure should presumably receive a single rhythmic impetus or, to put it another way, be played as a single graceful gesture. This will mean playing the D-major Invention "in one," since the slurred groups of six sixteenths fill the bars of 3/8 time and will each constitute a single long beat.'' [emphasis added] Much has been said in this study about slurs, notegroupings, and varieties of detached articulation. While detached articulation is certainly an aspect of performance

" Butt, 166. For example, a long slur of this type would not obscure the regular pattern of metrical accentuation, even though it would indicate a smoother-than-normal performance. " Schulenberg, 155-56.

35

which needs to be considered in keyboard music of the Baroque era. Dots are less important to the structure and quality of the music [than slurs]; far fewer movements are marked with extensive passages of dots.... [S]lurs relate to accentuation, voiceleading and general colouring of the line; dots suggest more the lightening of the pulse and shortening of notes, and are far less likely to be associated with the 'ornamentation' in the music.

Dots clarify

rather than Interpret

textures

in the

iTiusic." [emphasis added] Schulenberg, quoting Dadelsen, says that the dot found in m.5 of the 17 23 autograph of the D-major Invention (the only instance of dotting in the sources) was a "chance ink

spot,"' and editions which have extrapolated this dot to other measures are therefore incorrect. The use of detached articulation, therefore, should be guided by the parameters which have already been discussed.

The Impact of Metrical Placement Upon Articulation The challenge which the modern musician faces when grappling with the issue of semi-detached articulation as the normative Baroque mode of execution is small when compared to the obstacle which must be eliminated when coming to terms with Baroque ideas regarding the correlation between metric placement, accents, and articulation. Throughout the late Classic, Romantic, and Modern eras, notes have tended to be grouped for performance in melodic phrases, whether or not those phrases correspond with the commonly accepted regular metric pattern of strong and weak beats. Phrasing has
Butt, 209-210. Schulenberg, 407.

36

generally been made explicit by the use of slurs, crescendo or diminuendo, and appropriate beaming. During the seventeenth and accentuation eighteenth centuries, however, articulative

was primarily indicated by placement within the

meter, usually regardless of whether the beginning or end of the melodic gesture was elsewhere. Houle states that The use of the term 'accent' so simplified explanations of the measure that it began to be defined by accent...." Musicians were agreed during this time that articulations were supplied to music to clarify the organization of the measure; the performer did not create the measure by his articulations.... The dependence of articulation on measure organization was unusually pronounced.... It was not tyrannical, as it seemed later, but intensified the aural perception of musical flow.'" The first beat of a measure, therefore, would receive the greatest emphasis. Zehnder, commenting on a passage by Kirnberger, notes that dances (allemandes, courantes, gavottes, minuets) in this era were "the prototypes for the different time signatures. Their respective rhythmic impulses are of basic importance for an understanding of the interpretation of early music.""' In addition, the fingering practices of the day (e.g.,in an eighth-note scale in C major with the right hand: 12343434 ascending, with 1 and 3 occurring on the beats see Example 3.2) would have reinforced the slight separation of beats into discrete units."'

" Houle, 5. " Ibid., 201. " ' Jean-Claude Zehnder,Part II, 17, No. 12: 42 " Faulkner, 43.

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Example 3.2: Typical Baroque scale-fingering pattern.

3 4 1 2 ^ 3 4

3 2

2 3

um
3 4 2

5 4

3 2

3 2

1 2 3 4

3 4 3 4

^ 5

It is instructive to use this fingering pattern in other keys, especially in G major, D major, A major, E major, and F major.

38

One should note that this strong/weak alternation (or good/bad, heavy/light, or tension/relaxation) was not the most obvious feature of Baroque performance: rather, it was the rhythmic subtext which propelled the musical material in a particular manner, comparable to the rhythmic nuances present in poetic speech. Notes on strong beats were emphasized by three means: A tiny break in sound before the

beat, and especially before a downbeat;"' assigning a longer duration to a stressed note, than was customary for normal semi-detached articulation while remaining within its rhythmic parameters (i.e., instead of sounding for one-half or three-quarters of its allotted time, the note would be allowed to sound for its full duration); and greater dynamic emphasis on the stressed note in string-like fashion (possible only on the clavichord and piano)."" The following

sources represent early eighteenth-century perspectives regarding meter and phrasing which reflect the practices of J.S. Bach in this regard. When the terms "light" and "heavy" occur, they indicate the following: Heavy performance requires that each note be played firmly [emphatically] and held until its value has completely elapsed. Light performance means that in which every note is played with less strength [emphasis], and the finger is removed from the key somewhat earlier than indicated by the value of the note."' Zehnder quotes J.G. Walther's Musicalisches Lexicon of 1732, as follows:
" ' Ibid., 43. See also Houle, 173 ff. " " Zehnder, Part I, 29. Houle, 200, states that "The dynamic accent became ascendant at the end of the eighteenth century and largely replaced the variety of articulation used earlier." " ' Tiirk, 346.

39

Quantitas Intrinseca Notarum (also termed Quantitas Accentualis ) is that length which results when all notes of otherwise equally notated value are performed unequally, so that one note is longer, the next shorter despite their outward appearance.... [A group of eight eighth] notes are equal according to their external value... while, according to their internal value, the first, third, fifth, and seventh are long, while the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth are short.... [A] note which, according to its number, is long receives a strong accent, while one that is short, according to its number, is expressed somewhat shorter and softer."' After cautioning that what is being described are subtle nuances which, however, are not to be confused with French notes Inegales, who repeatedly stressed in his Anleitung (p.160) "the need to correctly observe the good and bad notes." Some musicians, he continued, also term this "the long and short, although without reason, for the duration is not altered at all." [i.e., though each eighth note in a group may receive different stresses and articulation, the group is played in even rhythm.] In this respect, an organ's ability to achieve these nuances is often underestimated."' [emphasis added] Perhaps a comparison with the spoken word will have an illuminative effect at this point: metered music is comparable to poetic speech (Kirnberger compared poetic speech to dance), " while unmetered music (e.g., recitative) Zehnder then proceeds to quote J.S. Petri,

is comparable to prosaic speech. Badura-Skoda quotes J.G. Walther as follows: This theory of accent length is peculiarly useful both in vocal and instrumental music, for hence derives the stylish restraint of the voice and the fingers whereby, that is, one emphasizes a note which is long, quantitatively speaking; whereas a
" ' Zehnder, Part II: 41-42. " Ibid., 42. " Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, 382

40

note that is short, quantitatively speaking, is played slightly shorter and more softly."' Badura-Skoda next proceeds to give an analysis of Walther's remarks (which are in accord with the interpretation by Zehnder, above, of similar comments): Walther's 'long-short' terminology suggests that he was thinking of notes inegales. Yet this is unlikely. Rather, it is the case of the quantities of spoken verse being applied to music. What may well have been long and short in Ancient Greece became stressed and unstressed (or strong and weak) in European languages, as every poetry reading proves. The same holds true of music. But as unstressed notes cannot be produced on the harpsichord through fingerpressure, the only means available is the abbreviation of note values....'" Houle concurs with this assessment, citing Rousseau's Dictionnaire (1768) :

Rousseau saw the discrepancy between the quantitative meters of Greek and Latin [e.g., longshort] and accentual modern French [e.g., stressedunstressed, or heavy-light], but instead of seeking a way to reconcile them... he was content to point out the existence of the difference." Schulenberg gives pertinent information as to how a harpsichordist would go about creating a "poetic" performance, in the process reiterating what others have written on the subject of articulation: Eighteenth-century keyboard articulation tended more toward non-legato than did nineteenthand twentieth-century playing, and modern harpsichordists have arrived at a consensus about certain desirable aspects of articulation in Bach's keyboard music. Chief among these is the placement of minuscule articulations (silences) before accented notes, creating in effect an agogic accent on the latter; another is the use of short slurs on certain frequently occurring figures--for example, between an appoggiatura and the following note. By placing
Badura-Skoda, 21. Ibid. Houle, 153.

41

articulations before most accented beats, the metrical structure of each bar is clearly defined. This does not mean that every beat receives equal emphasis; on the contrary... it is clear that beats within each bar [can] be distinguished by subtle gradations in both duration and dynamic level." In addition, metrical accentuation could be indicated on a larger scale. For instance. Bach indicated "double measures" in several autograph sources (including the A-minor Sinfonia, the Prelude from the G-minor English Suite, and Passepied I from the E-minor English Suite: see Example 3.3), in which full barlines occur only after each pair of measures." Each of these movements is in i, and Schulenberg remarks that perhaps they were notated in pairs in order to avoid implying a faster tempo (i.e., I would have possibly been performed more rapidly than i ) . " Elsewhere, in the corrente of the B-

minor Partita (BWV 1002) for violin, this technique is used in order to indicate double measures of s" None of the

Inventions is so notated, but this notational practice is mentioned here because it shows how the pairing of measures in an accentual hierarchy (whether for a whole piece or for a section thereof), especially in meters with only one beat per measure, could be used to highlight the tension and relaxation implied by various melodic figures or harmonic progressions. (Specifically, the first beat of the first of
^ ^ Schulenberg, 15. " Ibid., 159, 244, 250. " Ibid., 159. See also Newman, 59-71, for a discussion of strong/weak pairs of notes, beats, and measures. " Butt, 201-203.

42

Example 3 . 3 : "Double m e a s u r e s " i n t h e P a s s e p i e d from E-minor E n g l i s h S u i t e .

the

mM
M

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

43

two paired measures would receive more emphasis than the first beat in the second measure of the pair). J.P- Kirnberger, one of Bach's pupils, in his retrospective treatise entitled Die Kunst_de^ Reinen Satzes in der Musik (The Art of Strict Musical Composition) allots over thirty pages to a thorough discussion of tempo, meter, and rhythm, including several examples from the keyboard works of J.S. Bach. Excerpts from Kirnberger's opening remarks regarding tempo and meter are included here: If melody is to become similar to speech and adapted to the expression of various emotions and sentiments, individual notes must be turned into meaningful words and several words into comprehensible phrases. This transformation of a mere stream of notes into a melody resembling speech is accomplished in part by accents that are given to a few notes, and partly by the differences of their durations. It is just the same as with common speech, where we distinguish words and sentences only by means of the accents and durations of syllables. Meter actually consists of the precise uniformity of accents that are given to a few notes and of the completely regular distribution of long and short syllables. That is, when these heavier or lighter accents recur at regular intervals, the melody acquires a meter or a measure. If these accents were not distributed regularly, so that no precise recurrence occurred, the melody would be similar only to common prosaic speech; but with this periodic return it is comparable to poetic speech, which has its precise meter.... A regular walk has steps of equal length, each of which represents a measure of the melody. However, the steps can consist of more or fewer little movements or beats, and these movements or beats, all of which are the same duration, can have smaller divisions or parts; they can also be distinguished by other modificationsby gradations of heavy and light, flowing or leaping, etc. If a precise uniformity is observed in the steps and small movements, this results in the measured walk which we call dance, and this is precisely analogous to measured melody. In just the same way as dance expresses or portrays various sentiments merely by motion, melody does it merely by notes. Whoever considers this closely will easily understand how much the character of a melody 44

depends on tempo and meter...." If one hears a succession of equal pulses that are repeated at the same time interval... experience teaches us that we immediately divide them metrically in our minds by arranging them in groups containing an equal number of pulses; and we do this in such a way that we put an accent on the first pulse of each group This division can occur in three ways That is, we divide the pulses into groups of two, three, or four. We do not arrive at any other division in a natural way. No one can repeat groups of five and even less of seven equal pulses in succession without wearisome strain. It can be done more easily with six, especially when the pulses go rather quickly; however, one will notice that groups of six or more pulses are not easily comprehended without thinking of a subdivision, in which case they once again resemble the above-mentioned groups of two, three, and four. " [A] measure of two quarter notes and another of two half notes... indicate a different tempo, even though they have the same number of beats. In addition, [meters whose signatures are comprised of] longer note values are always performed with more weight and emphasis [i.e., less detached, and somewhat more slowly] than shorter ones; consequently, a composition that is to be performed with weight and emphasis can only be notated with long note values, and another that is to be performed in a light and playful manner can only be notated with short values . ' On the violin, pieces in...light meters are to be played just with the point of the bow; however weightier meters require a longer stroke and more bow pressure...." All principal notes must fall on the downbeat, because the first beat of the measure has the greatest weight and is accented. What I mean by principal notes here are those at which even a crude peasant nods his head or stamps his foot when expressing the feeling of the meter.'"

" Kirnberger, The Art of Strict Musical Composition, 381-82. " Ibid., 383. " Ibid., 384-85. A good place to observe this is in Bach's Goldberg Variations, where the meters and note values change with each variation, and thus give the performer information regarding genre, tempo, and "light" or "heavy" articulation. " Ibid., 388. " Ibid., 388.

45

After this general introduction to the principal characteristics of tempo and meter, Kirnberger discusses each meter specifically. Since only I, I, \ , %, and ^l are used in the Inventions, only Kirnberger's coimnents regarding these time signatures will be suiimiarized here: 4 time, or common time, is generally lively in tempo (unless it is marked Grave, to indicate that it is being used

in place of the unwieldy \ time signature), and articulation is typically light (semi-detached). The first beat is accented, with a lighter accent on the third beat, while the second and fourth beats are unaccented (but if the first and third beats receive equal stress, then according to Kirnberger the proper meter would be | rather than common

time). * 8 meter is also a quadruple meter, but each beat divides into three parts, with an accent on beat one and a lesser accent on beat three. This meter, due to the likelihood of groups of running sixteenth notes, is generally played in a lively tempo with light articulation, but it is played more emphatically than a piece in J i (such as the Fugue in C- sharp minor (BWV 87 3) from Das Woltemperierte Klavier II) would be performed (see Example 3.4). In 1 meter the first beat receives an accent, while the third beat is always unaccented. The most characteristic tempo for | meter is moderate, like a minuet, though all 46

Example 3.4: Comparison between 12/8 and 12/16. Invention in A major

fei^^di^^^

es
^

^mfff^^^^mm
Well-Tempered Clayler, Book II, Fugue 4

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

47

tempos are possible, in the slower tempos (especially if 'i meter is used for a sarabande), the second beat receives a somewhat lesser accentuation than the first beat. | meter, used for the passepied, is similar to I, but is performed

with more liveliness of tempo and more separation between the notes. In i meter the second and third beats are unaccented. 8 meter also has three beats, but the eighth notes are performed more lightly (more detached) than eighth notes in 4. Triplets in 4 are played lightly (more detached) with no pressure on the last two notes, while the three eighth notes in one beat of I are, in comparison, played more heavily (more legato), with some emphasis on the third eighth note of each beat. This method for performing eighth notes in compound time would also be applicable to ' i meter (see Example 3.5)." The foregoing summary of portions of Kirnberger's treatise shows how typical Baroque articulation coincided with the characteristic alternation of strong and weak beats within a given meter, rather than with the motivic construction of the piece. Modern research has established and clarified many aspects of this subject, as follows: [Ludger Lohmann's] greatest contribution is to outline the grammar of articulation, independent of the concept of 'phrasing,' and derived both from the
Ibid., 390-400.

48

Example 3.5: Normal accentuation for the various meters found in the Inventions.

Moderate or lively unless marked Grave.

In faster tempos

T
o In slower tempos

r r -- - " - ^ r r
Never

rTTr
5 "Lighter" than 3/4 Usually lively

r l i f r rT~TT~f~Tr i^
Never

Lively, usually incorporates 16th notes.

r
Kirnberger, 390-400.

LULL

49

compositional style and the desire for clarity and expression in Baroque performance. The hierarchies of accent lie behind the principles of articulation and, paraphrasing Rousseau, these accents can be viewed as grammatical (the system of metrical stress), oratorical or logical (derived from the sense and formal structure of the discourse) and pathetic (the emphasis of particularly expressive notes).... The grammatical accent rules before 1750 and an extensive study of keyboard fingering shows how the performance technique reflects the standard strong-weak accents within pairs of even notes ('good' and 'bad' notes)." This "grammatical" approach to articulation was not merely an accommodation to the limitations imposed by the keyboard fingering practices of the day (in fact, the reverse was true: fingering was adapted to articulation), since other earlier instrumental and vocal styles also exhibited these traits: Conventions in keyboard articulation have been thoroughly studied in recent years.... Conclusions

seem much the same as those

for other

Instrumental

media: articulation according to the natural metrical hierarchy ('good' and 'bad' notes) was reflected in the systems of paired fingerings, modified by the style of the piece, speed of notes and the distance between them, a knowledge of harmonic accents and spec if ic f igures.'' Clearly, this represents a contrast to modern phrasing preferences, as Butt remarks: In nineteenth-century music two levels of slurring are often used: smaller slurs indicate the details of articulation and larger slurs imply a general 'phrasing'.... There are no authentic instances of the simultaneous use of smaller and larger slurs in the music of Bach examined in this study. A study of slurs unrelated to articulation or small-scale 'figural' and accentual grouping must be based on circumstantial evidence " The existence of long slurs in Bach's notation challenges the assertion that consecutive shorter slurs or inconsistent slurs imply a 'general legato,' " Butt, 5-6. " Ibid., p. 52. '' Ibid. , p. 180. 50

particularly in keyboard works So often do articulation markings in keyboard music accord with those of string and woodwind parts that it is not likely that a continuous legato was ever intended.... Inconsistent or careless slurring surely does not imply a general legato (which would often obscure the basic tactus of the music) but demands that standard slurring be applied (e.g., pairs or groups of four) in accordance with metrical accents." It is important to remember that while these guidelines for articulation and metric emphasis gave performers a coherent way to approach the repertoire of their day, nevertheless, both composers and performers broke out of this conceptual matrix when it became necessary for expressive reasons. Some compositional instances of this in the keyboard works of Bach include: slurs which are placed so as to cause an attack at an otherwise unaccented spot in a particular measure in the F-minor Invention, m.8, beat three, treble staff (see Appendix A, see also Example 3.6, the Allemande from the C-minor Partita, m.29, treble staff); leaps which accentuate unstressed portions of a measure in the A-minor Invention, m.5, beat 2, right hand f to d (see Appendix A, see also Example 3.7, the opening measures of the Courante from the A-minor Partita); syncopation in the E-major Invention (see Appendix A, see also Example 3.8, the Courante of the Partita in E minor), ties across a barline or a strong beat in the A-minor Invention, mm.3-6, treble staff (see Appendix A, see also Example 3.9, the Gigue of the F-major English Suite, m.l); and thickened textures on weak beats alternating with thinner textures on strong beats (see Example 3.10, the Prelude of the G-minor English Suite, mm.813). " Ibid., p. 185. 51

Example 3.6: Allemande from the C-minor Partita, measures 2 9-3 0.

^^^^S
ss
^

r

==^

m
^

fe

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

52

Example 3.7: Courante (Corrente) from the A-minor Partita, measures 1-3 .

^ ^

^^m^
-~)-^

^-^ipSp^ - - ^ f ^

^
J^ 7 -fi-^=d

i 1

i^=^x^ r r^f^
^5Pf=

i
Edition, 1853, 1863.

iach G e s e l l s c h a f t

53

Example 3.8: Courante from the E-minor^^artita, measures 1-9,

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

54

Example 3.9: Gique from the F-major English Suite, measures 1-3,

m
r~^"^^^hTf=B

ii^

r~r~t -\~r-^^^g?=^

^m

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

55

Example 3,10: Prelude from the G-minor English Suite, measures 8-13.

i
^gg^

r=f

wm
^

xu
r

I
7
^

f =

i
s ^

s
i=5

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

56

All but the last-named compositional device were utilized in the Inventions. The most frequent ways in which modern "authentic" performances of Bach's keyboard music deviate from the normal Baroque modes of accentuation and articulation include agogic stresses which usually entail a minute lengthening of downbeats or important subject entrances, brief and gentle ritardandos to demarcate formal divisions, and inegales. notes

The latter term refers to the more or less

systematic application of a lilting long-short rhythmic pattern, which is more gentle than a dotted rhythm, to the fastest notes which regularly appear in a given piece. David Schulenberg notes. Whether or not Bach employed notes Inegales has raised some controversy. No contemporary German writer seems to have described the practice, but Bach must have had opportunities to hear Frenchmen performing their own music, and can hardly have been unaware of this or other widely recognized rhythmic conventions.... [IJneguality can be used in almost any French dance. .. .'" [emphasis added] Though many facets of this topic are murky, it is clear, at least in reference to the Inventions, that the only possible use of notes Inegales would be in movements which could be

clearly identified as belonging to a particular French dance genre, and not always then. Notes inegales were commonly

applied to many French dances, but it is unlikely that this practice is generally suitable for the Inventions. Slurred paired notes were often performed unequally, yet, as J. Butt remarks: Inegales If paired slurs were ever to indicate notes in Bach's music, the most likely instances 57

Schulenberg, 17.

of their use would be where a player of the French tradition might automatically apply the convention (determined primarily by the meter [and dance form]) and the German player would be less sure and require some indication." Isolated pairs of slurred notes are found in the autograph of the C-minor Invention, m.8, and in the F-minor Invention, m.8., neither of which, after a consideration of other

stylistic elements (see Chapter V for analysis of dance genres), is a likely candidate for in6galite. Otherwise,

slurred pairs do not occur in the autographs of the Inventions. The D-major Invention, which might support inegalite since it is like a passepied, contains recurrent

slurs that cover entire measures, thus ruling out this practice. Likewise, the E-major Invention, which shares several traits with the minuet, could be said to be a potential candidate for inequality, but it contains frequent syncopations which would be ruined by such a treatment. Though the application of Inegalite is not appropriate

when performing the Inventions, certainly this does not mean that the performer is to be constrained within a rhythmic strait-jacket. Modern sources agree that tempo variation within a movement occurred only on a small scale (within beats), except at large formal divisions, where brief and gentle ritards were possible. Schulenberg gives a concise overview of this topic, rightly linking rhythm with articulation: Articulation cannot be discussed separately from rhythm, since, as modern players of historical instruments have shown, agogics and slurs function together. To produce an accent, the little silence preceding an accented note can be "stretched," as can
" Butt, 61.

58

the note itself. For this to occur without doing violence to the coherence of the larger gesture and phrase requires that rhythmic freedom be applied primarily to small note-values within the beat, the latter remaining fairly steady- The result is a true tempo rubato rather than the manipulation of the beat or tempo itself, which is probably more characteristic of nineteenth century practice. Of course, relaxation of the tempo at cadences can be heard in most good performances of eighteenth century music. But the nature of the ritard differs from that employed in Romantic practice. Bach usually maintains a piece's prevalent rhythmic pattern right up to the last bar-line, and thus ritards in his music are best begun late. Even in the final bar of a piece one must not lose track of the beat; otherwise the written-out arpeggiations so common in final bars (especially in dance movements) are likely to seem superfluous or dragged out. . . . ' ^ The beat itselfthat is the note-value on which the pulse should fallis nearly always indicated in Bach's music by the time-signature; theorists associated specific time-signatures with given ranges of tempo, and while there is considerable room for leeway in these prescriptions, it is clear that, as a rule, one ought not subdivide the notated beat.... [E]ven in embellished adagios and sarabandes one should not count eighths or sixteenths. In French-style pieces, including most suite movements, one must assume that the rhythmic patterns underlying the various dances were meant to be heard clearly." Badura-Skoda, in a more general yet also more descriptive manner, concurs with Schulenberg's assessment: ...[I]t would be wrong to equate the maintenance of a regular beat [in the performance of Bach] with twentieth-century motoric rhythms. Between the firm 'pillars' of the beats there was a large degree of freedom.... there were all kinds of rubato, 'breathing pauses', breaks, and thematic dovetailing running counter to the beat. Bach's music in particular is 'long-winded', but even the strongest lungs have to be able to breathe somewhere.'"

Schulenberg, 16. Ibid., 16-17. Badura-Skoda, 17.

59

Finally, a subject which no eighteenth-century source seems to deal with explicitly, yet which is implied in nearly every source, is the fact that attention to articulative detail can either cause rhythmic stasis or it can propel the phrase forward. This is alluded to by Schulenberg (and was quoted previously in a different context) as follows: Motives or figures that cross the barline or straddle more than one harmony need not be slurred in order to retain their integrity; indeed many motives are defined by a specific combination of slurred and unslurred notes (e.g., groupings of sixteenths in patterns of 1 + 3 or 3 + 1). In such a combination the little articulations or silences preceding and following the slur do not break up the gesture but become part of i t . By the same token, slurring into a beat is not the only way to join upbeat to downbeat in a single gesture: indeed, detached upbeats are clearly the rule in the music of Bach and probably all Baroque composers." [emphasis added] Several valuable pieces of information are presented here, but the reader's attention is directed especially to the italicized portions of the text. Material which uses a mixture of detached and legato figures can be combined into a single unit, but in order for musical subjects which are composed of a variety of articulative groupings to avoid stasis, it is necessary for the hand (and mind) of the performer to use the minute accents and silences of this style to "move ahead" or relax at appropriate points. Movements such as the C-major Inventionwhich sounds rather bland when performed with a continuous legatobecome dancelike, joyous, and full of vigor when approached in this fashion. This is surely much more in keeping with a Baroque aesthetic than the aimlessly meandering or relentlessly motoric interpretations of this piece one often hears. The
" Schulenberg, 15.

60

propulsion of the musical material in a varied and interesting manner is, after all, the reason for paying attention to the articulative details in the first place.

61

CHAPTER IV BAROQUE FINGERING PRACTICES, HAND AND BODY POSITION

Baroque Fingering Practjj^p^ In J.S. Bach's day, keyboard players began to invent new methods of fingering, the chief of which was the

increased use of the thumb. Bach's biographer J.N. Forkel stated that before Bach's era even the greatest performers... did not use the thumb till it was absolutely necessary in stretches. Now when Bach began to unite melody and harmony so that even the middle parts did not merely accompany, but had a melody of their own... he was... obliged to contrive another mode of fingering, better adapted to his new methods, and particularly to use the thumb in a manner different than hitherto employed.... in Bach's method the thumb was made a principal finger, because it is absolutely impossible to do without it in what are called the difficult keys.' C.P.E. Bach, in his Essay, concurred with Forkel: My deceased father told me that in his youth he used to hear great men who employed their thumbs only when large stretches made it necessary. Because he lived at a time when a gradual but striking change in musical taste was taking place, he was obliged to devise a far more comprehensive fingering and especially to enlarge the role of the thumbs... for among their other good services, they must be employed chiefly in the difficult tonalities. Hereby, they rose from their former uselessness to the rank of principal finger. Because this new fingering is such that everything can be played easily with it at the proper time, I shall expound it here.' Both C.P.E. Bach and Forkel recognize the fact that musical style impacts choice of fingering. Specifically, the
'David, Mendel, and Wolff, 434. ' C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 42.

62

increased chromaticism and complexity of late-Baroque contrapuntal music led to the more frequent use of the 'difficult' keys (i.e., the tonalities with many flats or sharps). This increase in the use of sharps and flats partially explains why J.S. Bach developed new ways to use the fingers at the keyboard. Farther along in his exposition on fingering, C.P.E. Bach turns to two elements which are of great importance to this study: Change of fingers is the most important element of fingering. Our five fingers can strike only five successive tones, but there are two principal means whereby we can comfortably gain as many fingers as we need. These are the turning of the thumb and the crossing of the fingers. Since nature has endowed no other finger with the skill to pass under the others, the thumb uses its flexibility, together with its advantageous shortness, to turn under at places and times when there are not sufficient fingers to execute a passage. Crossing over is a technique limited to the remaining fingers, and is made easier when a longer finger vaults a shorter, including the thumb, when there are not enough fingers to execute a passage. This crossing must be practiced until the fingers are skillful enough not to interlock.' That C.P.E. Bach's practice of vaulting a longer finger over a shorter one was anachronistic in his own lifetime is shown from comments found in Johann Carl Friedrich Rellstab's 1789 treatise entitled C.P.E. Bachs Anfangstiicke mit einer Anleitlung den Gebrauch dieser Stiicke die Bachsche Fingersetzung, die Manieren und den Vortage Betreffend, in which Rellstab states that Mr. C. Bach believes that the one [i.e., scale fingering] for the right hand in which the third finger strikes over the fourth, and the one for the lower hand in which the second finger strikes over the thumb, are the most common, but very few keyboard Ibid., 45-46. 63

players hold the same opinion as he does." In his essay, C.P.E. Bach explains his father's method of fingering in great detail. One element which differs greatly from what others state about the keyboard technique of his father is the idea of stretching the fingers, rather than shifting the entire hand laterally.' One could hardly maintain a quiet hand with almost no visible motion (see discussion under Hand and Body Position), while simultaneously stretching the fingers as far as possible.' Also, the motivic, rather than scalar, nature of much of J.S. Bach's keyboard music, coupled with what is known about Baroque fingering practices, makes it unlikely that turning the thumb under would be used with great frequency in the Inventions. Crossing over (see Example 4.1), on the other hand, would happen frequently. Modern pianists will be likely to find that it is easier to think of this process in terms of minute lateral shifts of the hand, rather than imagining a "stretch," with its implied disruption of a quiet hand position. When one "crosses" the third finger over the fourth or second finger while maintaining Bach's well-known quiet hand position, the natural result is a series of small lateral motions up or down the keyboard. This type of fingering (and the articulation with which it goes hand in hand) can be used effectively at the piano, provided that the player uses the rhythmic inequalities which naturally arise in this style to propel the material forward, rather than

' In Faulkner, 37. ' C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 43-44. ' Ibid., 45-46.

64

Example 4.1: Fingering which

crosses over'

W
3 4 3 4 3

^.. 4

:i

65

pausing after each tiny articulation. For some pianists it may also take some effort to remember that the end of each fingering/articulative grouping is unstressed; otherwise, it is all too easy to have a "hiccup" at the end of each group. Several pieces by Bach and his circle which have added fingerings illustrate Bach's fingering practices. The first of these is the Applicatio from the Clavier-Biichlein vor W.F.

Bach (BWV 994).' This is a purely didactic piece, designed to give the student concrete examples of fingering and ornamental procedures. In this source, the right hand uses [12]3434 ascending and 543232 descending, while the left hand uses 32121 ascending (see Example 4.2).' W.F. Bach (1710-

1784) is said by Daniel Gottlob Tiirk, his student, to have used these patterns all his life.' The second piece from the Clavier-Biichlein which Bach fingered, the Preambulum (BWV 930), consists primarily of

arpeggiated chords. The fingerings are similar to modern practice, except that the thumb is not generally used on the black keys. As a result of its less contrapuntal texture,

this piece is less useful in terms of establishing fingerings for the Inventions than the preceding one. Third for consideration is the Prelude and Fugetta

(sic) (BWV 870a). Though this manuscript is not in J.S. Bach's handwriting, it corroborates the principles found in the Applicatio and the fingerings of Bach's student and Fugetta are both thoroughly

Kirnberger. The Prelude

' J.S. Bach, Clavier-Buchlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, Facsimile ed., 9. " In Faulkner, 22. Mattheson's Kleine General Bass Schule, p.72 uses the same patterns. ' Tiirk, 146.

66

Example 4.2: Applicatio from W.F. Bach's Clavier-buchlein.

.^ 4 3 4 3 4

/! I

.^-+3 ^

4 5
^MK

-^

5F=3=3=3= ^ '
^

fi
5 4 -- 3 5 4 3 2 3

sW
3 2 12
2

1 2

2 15

: J-

H^j

Tr
4
,'V*'

r
a
2

at:^ ^
4 3 2

B ^ ^^^t^trr
1 2 3 5 ^

at

isEEEEEE^E^

3
^ 3 4 5 3 2 1 ' ^

J:
Transcribed from the facsimile.

67

contrapuntal works, in four and three voices respectively, and therefore provide apt illustrations for the purposes of this study, Quentin Faulkner, in whose useful manual entitled J.S. Bach's Keyboard Technique :_A^iiisiori^a,LlntrMuction these pieces can be found, gives an analysis of the fingering principles found here: 1. The equal use of all fingers.... In particular, there is a consistent use of the thumb of both hands.... 2. The remarkably frequent use of the same finger on two notes in succession. A finger that is depressing one key is released, and by means of a tiny hop is transferred to another note which it immediately depresses. The outer fingers of each hand the thumb and fifth finger- undertake this action far more frequently than the other fingers, although all the fingers of both hands engage in it at one point or another. Normally this action occurs from note to adjacent note, but there are a number of instances in which it spans a leap of a third, a fourth, or even a fifth....'" The action is best accomplished by a motion of the hand that is peculiar to early modes of fingering. In order to follow the finger in its course, the hand must execute sporadic, minute, and rapid lateral shifts. These shifts are accomplished with all fingers of the hand still basically in contact with the keys, and often allow the hand to retain the most natural position possible. This shift is not described in any of the sources from Bach's circleit arises naturally as the most efficient way to accomplish any of the earlier fingering patterns (including scales) in which one finger vaults another. 3. The use of the thumb and fifth finger on an accidental is avoided whenever possible, although it does occur whenever it is the most convenient solution to the problem at hand. This limitation is in accord with C.P.E. Bach's instruction: "[Accidentals] are seldom taken by the little finger and only out of necessity by the thumb.. . . The thumb avoids accidentals, as does the little
'"Faulkner's footnote: "It is instructive to note that these larger leaps invariably occur before beats one and three, i.e., the strong beats."

68

finger. . . [except] when a contextual leap makes it necessary." (Essay, pp. 45 & 60) [Faulkner's citation of C.P.E. Bach] 4. Substitution of one finger for another on the same key Is generally avoided. The only instance of substitution occurs in measure 25 of the Fugetta, on a pedal tone (this use of substitution is customarily allowed in early fingering practice). This principle C.P.E. Bach also records: "Because it is not easy to employ this device skillfully it is correctly restricted to relatively long notes and in cases of necessity." (Essay, p. 72). 5. The passing of the fingers over the thumb (i.e., the thumb's use as a pivot the cardinal principle of modern fingering) is also found, though with no great frequency ...; this alternation of thumb and index finger is also evident in the Applicatio. 6. When circumstances warrant, there appear some strikingly unusual fingerings which, when examined and tried, prove to be eminently sensible solutions to otherwise thorny problems.... These solutions are best executed by shifting the hand in a rapid lateral motion as described above.... 7. The early fingering practice of one finger vaulting another (analogous to that in the Applicatio) is also found, though it is not as conspicuous as the use of the same finger on two notes in succession.... In each case, of course, it is the longer finger that crosses over or the shorter that crosses under. Note that these crossings occur in leaps as well as in stepwise motion.... 8. The Fugetta shows at three points... the exchange of the middle voice from one hand to the other.... This division of labor between hands allows the smoothest performance of the voices." [Emphasis added to highlight those fingering practices which differ from the usual modern practice.] Finally, the fourth piece to be considered is one of the Magnificat Fugues by Johann Pachelbel for organ, with

fingering supplied by J.P. Kirnberger which enables the fugue to be played upon one manual without pedals. Kirnberger's
" Faulkner, 23-24.

69

express intention was to illustrate the Bach fingering method. An analysis of the fingerings in this source yields a picture consistent with the other pieces examined in this section." The fingering practices of Bach's circle can be summarized as follows: equal use of all fingers, but avoidance of the thumb and fifth finger on the black keys except when the context warrants their use; lateral shifts of the hand (e.g., using 3434 ascending or 3232 descending: see Example 4.1), with strong fingers (i.e., the first, third, and fifth fingers) employed at the more heavily accented points in the measure; hopping from one note to the next with the same finger, especially before a strong beat; using the thumb as a pivot occasionally; avoiding finger substitution on one pitch except when a very long pedal tone is encountered; and when necessary, sharing responsibility for

the performance of middle voices between the hands.

Hand and Body Position Contemporaries of J.S. Bach who witnessed his performance at the keyboard paint a consistent picture of what they experienced. Johann Adolph Scheibe, a student of Bach, states I have heard t h i s g r e a t man [Bach] play on v a r i o u s o c c a s i o n s . One i s amazed a t h i s a g i l i t y and one can hardly conceive how i t i s p o s s i b l e for him t o achieve such a g i l i t y , with h i s f i n g e r s and h i s f e e t , i n t h e c r o s s i n g s , e x t e n s i o n s and extreme jumps t h a t he manages, without mixing in a s i n g l e wrong t o n e , or d i s p l a c i n g h i s body by any v i o l e n t movement."
" Johann Pachelbel/Johann P h i l i p p Kirnberger, Allabreve, from Clavieriibungen mit der Bachischen A p p l i c a t u r , i n Faulkner, 24-25. " David, Mendel, and Wolff, 238. 70

Paul Badura-Skoda writes regarding this statement, that "we should not expect that [Bach] adhered wholly to the 'Classical harpsichord posture' with its steady and almost motionless wrists. Even Bach must have raised his arm to cross hands in certain passages " ' " in his biography of

Bach, J.N. Forkel discusses Bach's hand and body position as follows: According to Sebastian Bach's manner of placing the hand on the keys, the five fingers are bent so that their points come in a straight line, and so fit the keys, which lie in a plane surface under them, that no single finger has to be drawn nearer when it is wanted, but every one is ready over the key which it may have to press down. What follows from this manner of holding the hand is: (1) That no finger must fall upon its key... but only needs to be placed upon it.... (2) The impulse thus given to the keys, or the quantity of the pressure, must be maintained in equal strength, and that in such a manner that the finger be not raised perpendicularly from the key, but that it glide off the forepart of the key by gradually drawing back [or, more accurately, drawing up] the tip of the finger toward the palm of the hand. (3) in the transition from one key to another, this gliding off causes the quantity of force or pressure with which which the first tone has been kept up to be transferred with the greatest rapidity to the next finger, so that the two tones are neither disjoined from each other nor blended together.... [This] produces the highest degree of clearness in the expression of single tones, so that every passage performed in this manner sounds brilliant, rolling, and round, as if each one were a pearl, it does not cost the hearer the least exertion of attention to understand a passage so performed." Badura-Skoda states that This style of playing is characteristic of the harpsichord, but it can also be used on historical and modern pianos. The 'sliding-off'(Abzug) technique
" Badura-Skoda, 180. " David, Mendel, and Wolff, 432. C.P.E. Bach also used this hand and finger technique. Indeed, one can scarcely play the clavichord with any success unless one uses this technique. Any other method produces a snarl from the instrument.

71

was something of a revelation as far as I was concerned, for it does in fact make possible clearly articulated fingering in non-legato and legato, even in fast passages." In fact, there is some controversy over whether the technique of drawing the fingers back after striking the keys is appropriate for the piano, and the present writer has been given information in contrary directions by well-respected piano instructors in regard to this technique. Yet there can be no doubt that it was used by Bach, and it may possibly be effective for some pianists to use it. J.J. Quantz, a colleague of C.P.E. Bach in Berlin, in his treatise on the flute, also dealt with some issues pertaining to keyboard technique. His remarks regarding his observation of keyboard performances by J.S. Bach corroborate Forkel's statement in section three above." To sum up, two

additional statements will clarify the emerging picture of J.S. Bach's posture at the keyboard. Forkel writes: In fact, Seb. Bach is said to have played with so easy and small a motion of the fingers that it was hardly perceptible.... [Bach] wrote for himself particular pieces, in which all the fingers of both hands must necessarily be employed in the most various positions in order to perform them properly and distinctly. By this exercise he rendered all his fingers, of both hands, equally strong and serviceable." C.P.E. Bach states that "In playing, the fingers should be arched and the muscles relaxed. The less these two conditions are satisfied, the more attention must be given to them.""

" Badura-Skoda, 182. " David and Mendel, Bach Reader (New York: W.W. Norton, 1966), 444. " David, Mendel, and Wolff, 433. " C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 42-43.

72

The eighteenth-century sources paint a picture of a relaxed, relatively motionless keyboard posture in which the fingers are curved, keys are struck by the fingertips close to the fingernail, and small lateral shifts of the hand, "hopping" on one finger, and crossing of the thumb are utilized for moving up and down the keyboard. When performing Bach upon a modern piano it will most likely be necessary to amplify these motions, however, due to the piano's more heavily weighted keys and increased keydip. In addition, the smoother, fuller tone of the piano will generally cause one who plays this music on that instrument to use somewhat more detached articulation, especially in the bass, than if the harpsichord or clavichord (each of which features more definite attack, thinner tone, and quicker decay than the piano) is the instrument of choice.

73

CHAPTER V TEMPO CONSIDERATIONS AND APPLICABLE DANCE FORMS

Tempo Considerations We have little direct and unambiguous evidence of Bach's intentions concerning tempos for the Inventions.' On the other hand, this is an area in which modern musicologists have constructed some guidelines, based upon scattered and fragmentary evidence. In the obituary of J.S. Bach which C.P.E. Bach and J.F. Agricola wrote in 1754, one finds the following: "... of the tempo, which he generally took very lively, he was uncommonly sure."' Bach scholar Robert Marshall comments that "The suspicion... that an Allegro tempo constituted Bach's norm receives virtually explicit corroboration from the [Obituary]."' Considering this comment

and the remarks made by C.P.E. Bach, Kirnberger, and others about rhythm, meter, and articulation, one concludes that Marshall is correct with regard to the Inventions: only two Inventions, the F-minor and B-flat-major, are somewhat slow, while the B-flat Invention does not feel slow, due to the persistent use of thirty-second notes and vigorous rhythmic patterns. Though the other Inventions certainly vary in tempo, they all fit into the "lively" category.

' i.e., we do not know without doubt that when Bach wrote a piece in the style of a minuet he intended it to be performed at exactly M.M. 138 to the quarter note. 'David, Mendel, and Wolff, 306. ' Robert Marshall, The Music of J.S. Bach: The Sources, the Style, the Significance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989), 266.

74

The information in the preceding paragraph is modified somewhat by the fact that the evidence which exists regarding articulation and metric accentuation indicates that a normal "lively" tempo in Bach's day was almost surely slower than a Classic or Romantic allegro. As Zehnder says: "As an almost natural consequence of this strong-weak alternation, the tempo becomes slower than that which we are accustomed to."" Apparently, Baroque musicians wished to focus upon a wealth of articulative details rather than extreme speed. A performance which calls the attention of the listener to the "words" and "sentences"'' present in the music through varied and interesting articulation is surely at least as valid as a flawlessly smooth legato performance at a faster tempo. Schulenberg notes that "...[I]ndividual tones on the older stringed keyboard instruments seem to take a bit longer to achieve full resonance than on the modern piano, but they fade much more quickly, a fact having important implications for tempo, among other things."' Rosenblum, discussing the shift which occurred toward faster tempos during the mideighteenth century, quotes Tiirk, Quantz, and others in support of the fact that fast movements were played more slowly in the first half of the eighteenth century than in the latter part.' In the nineteenth-century, more extreme

tempos were certainly normative for the performance of Bach's music, as a perusal of Czerny's tempo indications for the Inventions will show (see Table 5.1). Badura-Skoda uses a considerable amount of space in an attempt to show that
" ^ ' ' ' Zehnder, Part II, 44. To borrow Kirnberger's terminology. Schulenberg, 10. See Rosenblum, 305-353.

75

Table 5.1: Editorial metronome marks in Czerny's edition of the Two-Part Inventions of J.S. Bach. Invention 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Key C major: C minor: D major: D minor: Note Value quarter-note = quarter-note = dotted-quarter note = dotted-quarter note = Metronome Marking 120 108 80 72 108 144
1 ^7

E-flat major: quarter-note = E major: E minor: F major: eighth-note = auarter-note = quarter-note = quarter-note =

144 116

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

F minor: G major: G minor: A major: A minor:

dotted-quarter note = 152 quarter-note = dotted-quarter note = quarter-note = 108 84 104

B-flat major: quarter-note = B minor: quarter-note = 104

76

Baroque tempos were faster

than they are commonly performed

today, primarily using late eighteenth-century English mechanical organs to support his views." Whether this is true or not,' when Badura-Skoda quotes Quantz in support of faster Baroque tempos, he fails to recognize that while Quantz's tempo recommendations reflected the preferences of the midto late-eighteenth century,'" Quantz was clearly aware that his practice in 1752 differed from that of Bach's generation." Whatever modern practice may be, the eighteenthcentury sources are clear that the somewhat slower "lively" temposcompared to the latter half of the eighteenth centurywhich are suitable for the performance of Bach ought not to lose their sense of proportion, however. Schulenberg remarks: "theorists associated specific timesignatures with given ranges of tempo, and while there is considerable room for leeway in these prescriptions, it is clear that, as a rule, one ought not subdivide the notated beat.... [E]ven in embellished adagios and sarabandes one should not count eighths or sixteenths...."" The picture of tempo which emerges is one where both allegro and adagio are slightly more moderate than in later eras, enough time is taken to relish small articulative details, a sense of the pulse characteristic to the meter is retained, and accentual patterns proper to the various dance genres are taken into account. A failure to observe somewhat moderated tempos in faster movements from this repertoire would
' Badura-Skoda, 5-11. ' It depends in large part upon what one sees as "the current practice" in regard to tempos in Baroque music. " Rosenblum, 354. '' Ibid., 319. " Schulenberg, 16.

77

obliterate articulative detail and render Bach's known fingering habits impractical. This error was frequently made in nineteenth-century editions of this repertoire. For example, Czerny's edition of the C-Major Invention contains a metronome marking of 120 to the quarter-note." At that tempo

the piece turns into nothing more than a test of endurance for the fingers with no possibility for expressivitySlow

movements from this era in which the performer subdivided the beat would lose the characteristic accentual pattern which is clearly indicated by their meter and/or dance genre. This is probably less of an issue for the performance of the Inventions since most of them are lively in tempo and since the two slower Inventions are relatively passionate in character.

Applicable Dance Forms Nearly every source from the eighteenth century to the present which has ventured to make a statement upon the topic attests to the fact that music which was composed primarily for dancing had a profound impact upon most musical genres of the era. The following excerpt from Kirnberger's treatise on composition contains a useful introduction to the practical necessity for a working knowledge of Baroque dance forms:

...[E]very passion, and every sentimentin its intrinsic effect as well as in the words by which it is expressed has its faster or slower, more violent or more passive tempo. This tempo must be correctly captured by the composer to conform with the type of sentiment he has to express.... Furthermore, he must have acquired a correct feeling for the natural tempo of every meter, or for what is
n . T . . q . Bach, Fifteen Two-Part and Three-Part Inventions Carl Czerny, ed. (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1904), 2.

78

called tempo glusto. This is attained by diligent study of all kinds of dance pieces. Every dance piece has its definite tempo, determined by the meter and the note values that are employed in it Regarding meter, those having larger values, like alia breve, 3/2, and 6/4 meter, have a heavier and slower tempo than those of smaller values, like 2/4, 3/4, and 6/8 meter, and these in turn are less lively than 3/8 or 6/16 meter. Thus, for example, a loure in 3/2 meter has a slower tempo than a minuet in 3/4 meter, and the latter is in turn slower than a passepied in 3/8 meter. Regarding note values, dance pieces involving sixteenth and thirty-second notes have a slower tempo than those that tolerate only eighth and at most sixteenth notes as the fastest note values in the same meter. Thus, for example, a sarabande in 3/4 meter has a slower tempo than a minuet, even though both are written in the same meter.'" Dance genres, particularly the standardized dances of the French suite served as models for the metric and articulative aspects of instrumental composition throughout Germany in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries." Bach's interest in the keyboard suite is evidenced by the Partitas, English Suites, and French Suites, but also by the fact that many of his keyboard, choral, and chamber works which are not so titled utilize these genres as well." Reference will be made throughout this section to Dance and the Music of J.S. Bach by Meredith Little and Natalie Jenne. This is an extremely valuable resource in relation to this subject,"
377. ' ^ Little and Jenne, 3-5. " Ibid., 33-34, 217-221. " Other sources which mention dance genres are much less helpful. For instance, Paul Badura-Skoda's Interpreting Bach at the Keyboard, pp. 85-87, which otherwise contains some valuable insights, merely quotes Griepenkerl's Preface to the old Peters Edition of the Partitas, nearly without comment. This perpetuates some nineteenth-century misconceptions and oversimplifications with regard to Baroque dance genres. A concise overview of Baroque dance as it relates to the suite for keyboard can be found in Newman, 139-151.

for it draws together an enormous amount of

" J.P. Kirnberger, Die Kunst des Reinen Satzes in der Musik, 376-

79

material from the musicians and choreographers of the Baroque period and applies that information directly to the titled and untitled dances of j.s. Bach. An understanding of the characteristic rhythm and structure of each dance is the key to the classification of untitled works which may be written in particular dance genres." Little and Jenne quote Forkel's biography in support of this fact, as follows: The composers of Bach's time had an admirable opportunity to acquire the due and easy management of the various kinds of rhythm, by the so-called suites, which were then common instead of our sonatas. In these suites there were, between the preludes and the concluding jigs, many French characteristic pieces and dance tunes, in which the rhythm was the most important object. The composers were therefore obliged to make use of a great variety of time, measure, and rhythm (which are now for the most part unknown), and to be very expert in them, if they desired to give to every dance tune its precise character and rhythm. Bach carried this branch of the art also much farther than any of his predecessors or contemporaries. He tried and made use of every kind of meter to diversify, as much as possible, the character of his pieces. He eventually acquired such a facility in this particular that he was able to give even to his fugues, with all the interweaving of their single parts, striking and characteristic rhythmic proportions in a manner as easy and uninterrupted from the beginning to the end as if they were minuets." Little and Jenne designate three primary levels of rhythm, in order of descending metric significance: the jbeat, which may be divided into two or three pulses, may be subdivided into two or three taps. each of which

In Baroque dance

music, beats are grouped in twos or threes to form measures, and measures tend to be paired, with forward motion
" Little and Jenne, 30. " Ibid., 30-31. See also David and Mendel, 323-324.

(arsis)

80

typically alternating with repose (thesis).

The pulse is the

lowest rhythmic level which can be syncopated. A tap is the smallest unit which can participate in the rhythmic hierarchyit is the smallest value which can be articulated. All notes of smaller values than the tap are ornamental, rather than structural, and therefore are not articulated separately from the more structurally significant notes (see Example 5.1) ." Little and Jenne's order of classification of the various dance forms will be followed in the present study, but only those genres which have some bearing upon the Inventions will be discussed. There is one respect in which the identification of the Inventions with particular dance forms is problematic: the tightly contrapuntal and formal structure of the Inventions does not always lend itself to precisely regular phrases, and thus, in genres such as the minuet which tend to feature quite regular phrase patterns, it is necessary to make some allowances for the intensified textural considerations which animate the Invention style. A less difficult factor, but one which should be taken into account, is the fact that several dance forms (e.g., the allemande, courante, gavotte, gigue) usually began with an upbeat, yet only one of the fifteen Inventions (D-major) begins this way. It has been decided that, for the purposes of this study, the lack of an upbeat entrance will not be a deterrent to the identification of Inventions with pertinent dance genres, as long as a preponderance of the evidence points in a specific direction.
" Ibid., 17.

Example 5.1: Excerpts from "Metric Levels in Baroque Dances."

French Gigue, Giga II, Passepied: Tap

m.
Pulse Beat ^

tfL

r
Minuet: Tap

Giga I: Tap

^fnfufnfnup
Pulse Beat ^

f~i*-^Pulse

r
1 1 i

^Beat
*T-^

Sarabande, Corrente: Tap

11
Pulse

J i

^ i ^

Beat

r
82

Little, Jenne, If

Allemande. Little and Jenne's work excludes the allemande because by Bach's era, this dance "no longer reflected a particular dance form. In a study of allemandes of this period we discovered neither clear choreographic roots nor distinguishable recurring rhythmic patterns; nor did we find any choreographies."" This source treats the allemande as a "prelude-like form."" In Bach's suites, the Allemande is in binary or rounded binary form," the tempo is

a moderate 4 meter, and each formal division typically begins with an upbeat. While some of the Inventions could be categorized as "prelude-like," there is simply not enough evidence to characterize any of them as an allemande. The Allemande is the only one of the standard dances of the Baroque suite which is typically in \ meter. It is interesting to note that while it is possible to categorize the seven Inventions which are in a meter other than \ as examples of various Baroque dances, none of the eight Inventions in I meter have lent themselves to identification with any dance form. Bouree and Gavotte. These genres are not found in the Inventions.

" Ibid., 34. " Ibid. "This fact, however, doesn't require that all allemandes, or other genres, must adhere to the binary principle, since Little and Jenne's study contains several specific examples of standard dances which are not in binary form.

83

Minuet. This is a genre of "moderate gaiety"'" in simple triple meter, which is felt in one beat per measure." The Bach minuet features four-bar phrases which are grouped in pairs. Phrases with odd numbers of measures are rare, and melodies have a tendency to feature stepwise motion within a relatively small range. The second pulse in a measure usually receives some stress, though this is felt to a lesser extent than in the sarabande, and the fastest regularly occurring note is the eighth note (or tap)." The minuet would formally

be rather bland, except that hemiola and syncopation are used to enliven the phrase structure;" doubles (i.e., another

minuet) are used in alternation with the principal dance, in order to accommodate the maneuvers of the dancers; the steps of the minuet, as danced, overlap rather than correspond with the phrases of the music;" and "notes Inegales on the eighth-

note level are characteristic of minuets in the French style."" A tempo faster than M.M. 42-46 [to the dotted half note] will not permit clear projection of the frequent harmonic changes (which reflect the counterrhythms of the harmonic changes and the steps) or of hemiolas and syncopations in the music; the risk is that of trivializing the dance.'" The E-major Invention shares most of the characteristics of a minuet notated in I metera "light" minuet (see Appendix A ) . Francois Couperin's Menuets
Mattheson's term. Little and Jenne, 67-68. Ibid., 70. Ibid. Ibid., 65. Ibid., 71. Ibid., 69.

Croises

84

from his twentieth Ordre

are also written in

I,

providing

examples of minuets in this meter (see Example 5.2). Some irregularities in the length of the phrases would make this Invention undanceable, even though the presence of repeated sections is in character for the dance. The minuet shares some similarities with the passepied, which is discussed below." Passepied. This dance is generally in I meter, with an

upbeat for the opening entrance. It is generally played in one beat per measure at a somewhat more lively tempo than the minuet. Sixteenth-notes are usually the fastest note value in a passepied. Though this genre shares with the minuet a regular formal structure, ...passepieds are not only faster but contain unusual rhythms offbeat accents which occur at surprising times to delight (or possibly upset) the listener. Passepieds also have longer phrases with fewer points of arrival and may be accented in a more vigorous manner than do minuets...." Among German writers, Walther called it "playful" or "flirtatious," and Johann Mattheson described it as frivolous, fickle, and less passionate than the gigue.... Thus, though it is not as passionate as the sarabande or as intense as the gigue, it is also not "moderate," like the minuet and gavotte...." [the authors recommend a tempo of about] M.M. 46-48 per measure [for the passepied]...." Passepied dance music is in 3/8, with phrases in a length divisible by four measures in order to accompany the units of four tiny steps set to each two measures of music...."

Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid., Ibid.,

83. 83. 85. 85. 86.

85

Example 5.2: (Premier) Menuet Croises from the Vingt-Deuxieme Ordre by Francois Couperin
Grand Oavier '\^ c

p-iece-s de Clavecin, Vol. IV, Budapest: Editio Musica Budapest, 1969.

86

The dance rhythm consists of a rhythmic-harmonic phrase four beats (measures) long with a thesis [point of relative repose] on measure 4...." [S]ixteenth notes are to be articulated with care and may move with inequality, even as the eighth notes do in a minuet." The D-major Invention can be thought of as a passepied in nearly all respects, but it does not have the exactly regular formal divisions nor the repeated sections which would make it suitable for dancing (see Appendix A ) . Sarabande. The sarabande is a passionate yet noble dance in slow triple time (e.g., M.M. 69 to the beat)," with a stress very frequently placed on the second beat, and an accentuated pulse often placed at the end of a measure (see Example 5.3 for a typical sarabande rhythm)." Little and Jenne note that a careful use of binary form is usual in the sarabande and state that "Balance is an important sarabande characteristic, and one seldom encounters phrases which are not four or eight measures long....""" Another prominent feature of the sarabande is the double, an elaborately ornamented and varied repeat, which may be written out by the composer or improvised by the performer."' Bach frequently wrote out the doubles (e.g., in

the D-minor English Suite) and in two instances in his titled dances he appears to have written out only the double: in the

C-minor Partita for keyboard"' and in the A-minor Partita for solo flute." This fact is of particular importance for the " Ibid. " Ibid., 87. " Ibid., 95. " Ibid., 93-95. " Ibid., 96. " Ibid., 95, 102. " Ibid., 110. " Ibid., 108. 87

Example 5.3: Typical rhythmic patterns in the Sar

abande.

r r'r^%

rT^r

r^r~r^nT~r^

Little, Jenne, 97,

present study. When one compares the F-Minor Invention (see Appendix A) to the sarabande from the C-minor Partita (see Example 5.4), one can immediately see that the two pieces utilize nearly all of the same elements, including rhythmic patterns and slurs. This Invention even approximates binary form (which is unusual in the Inventions in general), with the most important interior cadence occurring half way through at measure sixteen and seventeen. Indeed, the Invention could potentially have served as a "practice piece" which prepared Bach for the composition of the sarabande in the C-minor Partita. Courante. This genre is not found in the Inventions. Corrente. Little and Jenne identify the G-major Invention as a corrente."" the corrente as follows: The early eighteenth century Italian corrente is a virtuoso piece for violin or keyboard soloist. It usually consists of a continuous elaboration in eighth or sixteenth notes over a bass line in fast triple meter, with simple meter, slow harmonic rhythm, and phrases of varying lengths. Metrically speaking, most correntes have one beat to the measure... though some very ornate ones with continual sixteenth notes actually move with three beats to the measure.... Normally, the time signature is 3/4 and there is an upbeat. The tempo is moderate to fast, depending on the level of the beat and the amount of interest at the tap level. Techniques of elaboration include arpeggiation, sequential repetition, two melodic parts contained in a single line, figures resembling an Alberti bass, and passage-work covering several octaves.... Harmonic change, which is usually on the... first and third pulses [when each measure gets one beat], offers the performer the most reliable guide to articulation. Ornamentation is sparse, and French notes inegales are outside the style."' Earlier in the text, they describe

Ibid., 219. Ibid., 129. 89

Example 5 . 4 : Sarabande from t h e C-minor P a r t i t a .

Sarabande.
^ ^

^^mw^^w^^^
^E^%-'SSi
ii

r^f^T
^

^s s ^ ;^^<1- ^j^^^-V^rzg^g4^yJ-t:tfj

S ^5

mm^f^

^s:^

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863 90

This quotation certainly captures the essential elements of the G-major Invention, with only minor deviation. What is surprising is the fact that this movement is in compound triple meter. No other example of the use of I meter in a corrente is given by Little and Jenne, nor is one known to this author. A casual glance at this Invention would have tempted one to label it a gigue, but it really does not fit comfortably into any of the gigue subdivisions, as will be discovered below. On the other hand, the courantes from Bach's Partita in B-flat major and the French Suite in E-Flat Major are both written in 4 with the consistent use of triplets and with dotted rhythms which are intended to be accommodated to those triplets (see Examples 5.5 and 5.6). The material from these two movements sounds and feels similar to the G-Major Invention, even though they are visually different. The F-major Invention is another example of a piece which quite neatly fits the above description of the corrente, except that the typical upbeat entrance is not present. Here, the courante from the G-Major French Suite

provides a model for the genre (see Example 5.7). Gigue. Little and Jenne distinguish between three basic types of this genre, based upon metric structures: the (French) gigue, the (Italian) giga I, and giga II." The French gigue is a lilting dance (e.g., dotted-eighth, sixteenth, eighth: see Example 5.8) in I meter, which is

Ibid., 143. 91

Example 5.5: Courante (Corrente) from the B-flat major Partita.

Courante.

^^fe
^^^M
i^r-^^^^ ^ ^ = ^

^ # ^ ' - ^

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

92

Example 5 . 6 : Courante (Corrente) from t h e E - f l a t major French S u i t e .

C our Mite.

fl 1

1,-f-f,

yVr'v '
Ty-r--to
'
'^^

Uairr~
r^pri
B* J^ *'

i"#r*
- 1

^ ^

j _ t [ ! 1

^ *_\_ '^^
^ ^ *

'

~f~I^^

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863

93

Example 5 , 7 : Courante (Corrente) from t h e G-major French S u i t e .

Courante

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

94

Example 5.8: Excerpts from "Model for the [French] Gigue Dance Rhythm."

[f I cir cir' QTorta] r air or

r
Little, Jenne, 14J

X-H' LZT'T'r

95

"lively and spritely," with phrases which are frequently irregular in length."' None of the Inventions fit this category. "Giga I refers to Baroque pieces entitled 'gigue' or 'giga' (or related terms) in whose metric structure tripleness appears on the lowest level of rhythm."" Most Baroque dances feature a more or less regular phrase structure which is punctuated cadentially, but in giga I, cadences are either avoided or brushed past in a whirl of forward motion which lasts until the end of the main formal divisions. The phrase structure of giga I is irregular," and uneven, "hopping" rhythms (e.g., repetitive quarter/eighth patterns in % meter: see Example 5.9) are typical. Many meters are used for this genre, but what is important is that tripleness occurs at the tap level, with duple divisions at the pulse and beat levels.'" Giga I gives the illusion of

being the fastest of the gigue subdivisions, but at the beat level it is actually slower than the o t h e r s . " Though the giga was originally an Italian imitation of an English dance, the giga I was a purely instrumental, frequently quasi-fugal form by Bach's e r a . " Bach wrote in this style many times: the English Suites in A major, G minor, F major, and D minor, the French Suite in G major, and all of the Partitas except the G-major Partita contain examples of the giga I (see Example 5.10). " Ibid., 146. " Ibid., 153. " ' Ibid. , 154. " Ibid., 155. ' I b i d . , 145. " Ibid., 157. 96

Example 5.9: Typical rhythmi

c patterns for Giga I.

~^^^m-i-[ir^M^rTr-pHr-pT-r^
Little, Jenne, 156.

97

Example 5.10: Gique from the F-major English Suite.

P^ m m^^^ Tr^
^

^ ^ ^ ^ s
i=^ ^pa
- i ( ^

p^^^^e

^^T-fin
Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

p^

98

Initially, the A-major Invention appeared to be a giga I, since it features continuous, rapidly flowing sixteenth notes which subvert the effectiveness of cadences (see Appendix A ) . This analysis proved to be unsatisfactory, however, because in ' i meter the "level of tripleness" (and therefore the tap level for the giga I) is at the eighth-note level. Such a dance, which consistently uses running sixteenth notes, would have to be diabolically fast in order to keep its character as a giga I, and it is not likely that it would be focused primarily on rhythmic entities of lower significance than the tap. It is likely that the giga II was derived from the first two gigue subdivisions, since it shares all of its stylistic traits with one or the other." Giga II is the most complex version of this genre, because "there is another metric level below the tripleness"'" (e.g., a sixteenth-note texture in | or ' i meter, both of which contain triples at

the eighth-note level), but the tripled level is the pulse level (and thus the dotted quarter note would receive the beat in the above examples)." The giga II is lively, though it sounds more moderate than the giga I. It contains some ornamentation, features articulative variety through the use

of slurs in the sixteenth notes, and tends to have long, irregular phrases. It, like the giga I, frequently contains quasi-fugal textures. The dotted figure which is common in

" Ibid., 168. = ' Ibid., 164. " Ibid., 168. 99

the French gigue is not found in giga II." Before Bach, most examples of giga II were by French composersdespite the Italianate title (see Examples 5.11 and 5,12)." Examples of the giga II by Bach are found in the Amajor and E-minor English Suites, in the B-minor, E-flatmajor, and E-major French Suites, and in the G-major Partita." Little and Jenne, in their partial listing of untitled dance pieces by Bach, have identified the D-minor Invention as a giga II (see Appendix A ) . " One notices an affinity between the style of this Invention and that of the gique from the E-minor English Suite (see Example 5.13). It is also possible, after consulting the foregoing description of the giga II and looking at other examples of this genre by Bach, to identify the A-major Invention as a giga II. This movement contains several similarities to the gique from the A-major English Suite (see Example 5.14). Loure, Forlana, Polonaise and Passacaglia. These genres are not found in the Inventions. Other Genres. Not all of the inventions fit neatly into one of the above categories: some are simply preludes or fughetta-like movements. Others contain a limited number of elements from a particular genre, the identification of which may be helpful in making tempo and and articulative choices, although perhaps the principles discussed in other sections of this study would do this more effectively.

" Ibid. " Ibid., 164. Couperin's La Milordine an example of a French Giga II. ' ' Ibid., 169-174. " Ibid., 220.

from the Premier Ordre is

100

Example 5.11: Typical rhythmic patterns for Giga II,

^--rr-rr f T r-'i^rrr r

fr

^ - ^ - r - r r-r r i f

Little, Jenne, 165.

101

Dan'S^Rhnhm.^ '^^^^^^^ ^ ^ ^ "Alternate Model for the Giga XI

102

Example 5.13: Gique from the E-minor French Suite.

Gique.

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863

103

Example 5 . 1 4 : Gique from t h e A-major E n g l i s h S u i t e .

Gique.

^ ^ ^ ^ = ^ : ^ t ^ , c ^ ^ t' B
M-

cii-^

.A*

.>41* f

# ^^-r

tt<i

"f'f"^

jg ^LJLC-^-.

1 1 rH-#~^
tf

'**'

^*
^~

A V

9^.

->

* ^

AV

.^^^^01^91
*^' itriff f*^^yr I JI^J ^^I

/w 1
* *

-^y

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863.

104

CHAPTER VI DYNAMICS AND ORNAMENTS

Introduction The grouping of these two topics might initially seem unusual. However, the practical function of any ornament in this repertoire is the creation of a brief emphasis, a gradual crescendo, or a "sigh" decrescendo. Ornaments are valuable tools for the creation of dynamic nuances, especially on the harpsichord or organ. The mechanics of performing ornaments will not be discussed here since the keyboard player can turn to any number of readily available modern guides to ornamentation, including many modern Urtext editions of the music. Thus there is no necessity for a detailed, separate section to deal with ornaments in this study.

Dynamics and Ornaments This section will show that the evidence regarding Baroque practices in reference to dynamic variety suggests that forte was the normal dynamic and that variety was

"architecturally" built into the music on a small scale by composers or added by performers. In other words, composers indicated or implied the use of string-like phrasing;' they included ornaments and other variations in rapidity (see Example 6.1, the Allemande from the F-Major English Suite); they increased or decreased the number of notes which were
' Increased pressure at the beginning of a slur, with a decrease in pressure at the release.

105

Example 6 . 1 : Allemande from t h e F-maior English S u i t e ,

Allemande.

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

106

p r e s e n t v e r t i c a l l y for a t h i c k e r or t h i n n e r t e x t u r e (see Example 6.2, the Prelude from the G-minor English S u i t e ) ; and they used o v e r - l e g a t o (or, t o use Czerny's l a t e r term, "prolonged t o u c h " ) , ' style 6.3). In r e f e r e n c e t o the concept of forte dynamic, Robert Marshall comments t h a t The unambiguous, i f t a c i t , assumption of a f o r t e dynamic a t t h e beginning of such movements [in r i t o r n e l l o form] i s p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i f i c a n t , for i t s t r o n g l y suggests t h a t Bach regarded t h e simple forte as the normal dynamic l e v e l p r e v a i l i n g in a composition in the absence of any i n d i c a t i o n to the contrary." With r e s p e c t t o ensemble works, Bach's normal p r a c t i c e a t l e a s t in the case of movements in r i t o r n e l l o form ( a r i a s , choruses, concerto movements)was, as i s well known, t o have the t u t t i ensemble play f o r t e during the r i t o r n e l l o s and piano during the solo s e c t i o n s . . . . The unambiguous, i f t a c i t , assumption of a f o r t e dynamic a t the opening of such movements [in r i t o r n e l l o form] i s p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i f i c a n t , for i t strongly suggests t h a t Bach regarded the simple f o r t e as the normal dynamic l e v e l p r e v a i l i n g in a composition in the absence of any i n d i c a t i o n t o the c o n t r a r y . ' as the normal luthe. which i s c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o the use of brise or brise can r e a d i l y broken, or r a p i d l y arpeggiated chords known as style Written out examples of style

be found in the works of Rameau and Couperin' (see Example

^ One of t h e most well-known Baroque examples of o v e r - l e g a t o i s Couperin's rondeau Les Baricades Misterieuses from h i s s i x t h Ordre. ' Couperin's Allemande e n t i t l e d L'Augusta from the F i r s t Ordre c o n t a i n s w r i t t e n - o u t examples of t h i s p r a c t i c e a t t h e two main cadences, as do t h e Allemandes and t h e Courante from Rameau's Premier Livre de Pieces de Clavecin. " Marshall, 260. ' Ibid.

107

Example 6 . 2 : Prelude from the G-minor English S u i t e .

Prelude.

'flw p "^^1

-- ^ '"y^
\--ff-f-fi0f

"J

ti^^~

^ ^ ,

gf\\' ., j - B s a ^

tT ^^'JJJ*' '

trr/fr 1^1

7 r'/ F-:
r, , feMBf*"""', 1

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

108

Example 6.3: Style brise in the final measures of Allemande I from the Premier Liy^e de Pieces de Clavecin by Jean Philippe Rameau.

mmm^k^=L ti^^T^^^-^ T e^
^ ^

W
Paris: Heugel et Cie., 197i

^M'

109

Butt concurs: In statistical terms there are far more 'forte' marks in Bach's keyboard works than any other dynamic indications.... Unmarked works should normally also begin forte.' It seems unlikely that effects such as change of registration within a movement (which is the harpsichord's manner of creating larger dynamic contrasts), would be appropriate in brief pieces such as the Inventions. On the other hand, each movement could employ a somewhat different prevailing dynamic: a vigorous movement such as the F-major Invention would almost certainly be somewhat louder in general than the more tender F-minor Invention, and the rise and fall of the melodic line demand the kinds of fluctuations in dynamics that a good string player would apply. Yet when thinking in terms of string-like phrasing it is important to determine which style of string performance is referred to: Badura-Skoda quotes Wilfried Bruchhauser as stating that when taking string players as an example, one should realize that Baroque performers were not in the "habit of playing longer string notes so that they start as it were from nothing [T]he note is there, or it is not. Gradually creeping into a note and other hypertrophic sensitization processes first appeared in the late Romantic period."' Marshall states that considerable freedom in the use of dynamics was exercised by the solo performer: [Except in special circumstances, such as the Italian Concerto] it is clear that Bach considered the prescription of dynamics to be necessary only in ensemble compositions; in solo works the choice
' Badura-Skoda, 139. ' Ibid., 135.

110

almost invariably could be left entirely to the discretion of the autonomous performer.' Marshall cautions his readers that Bach tended to increase volume beyond forte "architecturally" rather than through dynamic markings: ...Bach chose... to call for more volume (power, brilliance) only by... compositional or orchestrational means rather than by the introduction of dynamic markings (piu forte, ff, fortissimo), something he was quite willing to do in the case of the softer dynamic levels. The practical consequences of this for anyone concerned about historically authentic Bach performance seem fairly clear.' The significance of the preceding information for the Inventions can be summarized as follows: Forte is the normal dynamic, especially at the beginning of a piece, but a solo performer is expected to use personal judgment about what constitutes the "best" dynamic for any given passage. Bach often increased or decreased dynamic levels through compositional procedures, but only called for additional softness with dynamic marks in ensemble works. The implication of this fact is that though no such markings (e.g., "piu piano") are present in the Inventions, the performer is reminded that attention to compositional elements such as figuration, rhythm, harmonic content, ornaments, and the direction of the line can serve as a guide to dynamic variety, which is, however, within a much smaller range than is typical for nineteenth-century music. Some of the typical Baroque techniques for varying dynamics can be more readily observed in Bach's Inventions than others. The use of ornaments, which are liberally
' Marshall, 260. ' Ibid.

Ill

sprinkled throughout these pieces (especially in the 1723 version), is remarked upon by C.P.E. Bach as follows: The keyboard lacks the power to sustain long notes and to decrease or increase the volume of a [single] tone or, to borrow an apt expression from painting, to shade.... Our most usual sustaining devices... [are] the trill and the mordent.'" Examples of "shading" include the long trills in the D-minor, E- minor, and G-major Inventions, which are certainly opportunities for creating at least the impression of an extended crescendo through increasing rapidity- On the other hand, execution of short ornaments such as those found in the E-Flat-Major Invention naturally creates a brief "sighing" decrescendo. Small decrescendos are also indicated by slurs in the D-major, F-minor, A-major, and B-minor Inventions, with emphasis upon the first note followed by one or more unaccented notes (see Appendix A ) . Badura-Skoda comments upon the fact that long-held notes on a stringed keyboard instrument automatically contain a decrescendo, which may or may not be appropriate for a specific passage. Bass notes tied over several bars do in fact die away to a pianissimo on stringed keyboard instruments. However, striking a pedal-note once and then holding it applies only to performances on the organ. On other keyboard instruments the bass note must normally be restruck after two or three bars. [C.P.E. Bach states that] "the performer may break a long tied note by restriking the key... but this must not be done 'against the beat', as the expression goes...." Quantz was even more adamant about restriking tied notes, "for without the fundamental note the dissonances are transformed into consonances, destroying the desired effect.""

C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 149-50. Badura-Skoda, 141.

112

Badura-Skoda next proceeds to quote C.P.E. Bach in an attempt to negate the use of long trills on pedal tones. A careful reading of Bach's Es^ay reveals that in this passage, Bach was writing about particular legato melodic passages (rather than pedal tones) in which the expressive character of the melody is destroyed by over-burdening the texture with ornamentation." This is a far cry from the use of a long

trill on a pedal tone in a vigorous movement, something which J.S. Bach explicitly marks several times in the autographs of the Inventions. The question remains, however, whether trills are appropriate for the "treble pedal tones" in the D-major Invention, mm.25-31 and also the bass tone in mm.28-29, where they are not explicitly marked. In the opinion of this writer, this is a place where the sustaining capabilities of the instrument which is selected, along with the tempo that is taken, may help to determine whether trills are desirable. On a piano, the trills most likely are not needed, but on a harpsichord their use may add vigor to this passage, which is placed in the most harmonically restless section of the Invention. Longer and shorter note values alternate in the Inventions in order to create a small measure of dynamic variety, since a series of sixteenth notes will sound louder than a series of quarter notes in the same tempo when played on the harpsichord or organ. Perhaps the most striking examples of this effect are found in the E-major and B-flatMajor Inventions (which are quite different from one another in terms of affect), where an intensification in rhythmic
" C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 106.

113

rapidity through increased use of thirty-second notes creates the effect of a crescendo. The return to a texture composed primarily of eighth or sixteenth notes after the greater activity of the preceding passage sounds as if a decrescendo has occurred. Since these are small changes, perhaps it would be helpful to think of them not as crescendos or decrescendos but as intensifications or relaxations of volume. At first glance it would seem that dynamic variation achieved through the addition of notes into the texture vertically would not be a factor in the Inventions, since (with the exception of the final chords of the C-major and Fmajor Inventions) they are written in a strict two-voice texture. Upon reflection, however, it can be observed that six of the Inventions have subjects which are initially unaccompanied, and of these six, four contain substantial rests for one voice in the midst of the piece while the other voice restates the subject. In addition, the bass staff of the two opening measures of the B-minor Invention contains a nearly gratuitous quasi-pizzicato accompaniment which is never reused as a countersubject. This can be thought of as an instance where Bach chose to thicken the texture to increase dynamic and rhythmic intensity. Thus this effect, while not pervasive, can be said to cause variation in dynamics in at least eleven (and perhaps more) places in the fifteen Inventions. The style brise proper is not encountered frequently in

these pieces, though it is certainly part of Bach's musical language." In a few spots, however, such as the final

For example, the Toccata from the E minor Partita.

114

cadences of the C-major, E-major, and A-minor Inventions, variations of this technique allow for a graceful release from the tension of the material which came immediately before it. In the E-major Invention especially, the aural result is a decrescendo, due to the rapidity of the thirtysecond notes of the penultimate measure. Prolonged touch, according to Sandra Rosenblum, is an effect which occurs where notes are held ...for considerably longer than their written values. Composers sometimes embedded a melodic strand or motivic element among other notes in passage-work or an accompaniment. If all (or most of) the notes are written in similar rhythmic values, melodic elements may be concealed in what looks to the eye

like a single line. Applying the prolonged touch, or "overholding," to such melodic lines creates a second dimension of sound that Illuminates the polyphony.
Such "hidden" two-part texture occurs frequently in Baroque music, especially in that of Johann Sebastian Bach. Two written-out examples that illustrate this practice are mm. 17-18 of the Allemande of Bach's Partita No.l ...and the opening four beats of Francois Couperin's Rondeau Les Bergeries, which Anna Magdalena Bach copied into her notebook [1725], presumably as Bach would have written the passage. Couperin's left hand part was carefully notated in two lines... one quasi-melodic, and one harmonic filler, which Anna Magdalena compressed into one line.'" [emphasis added] Butt describes prolonged touch and general instances where it is used as follows: "A... function of slurs, relevant only to keyboard music, is the sustaining of slurred notes until the end of the slur (see Example 6.4)."" Prolonged touch in the music of Bach is a technique which grew out of the style brise, since both were originally based upon lute technique, in which notes are allowed to ring for indefinite periods of time, with a resultant increase in
" Rosenblum, 155. " Butt, 54.

115

Example 6.4: Two versions of the opening of Couperin's "Les Bergeries.

'Les Bergeries" as it appeared in Couperin's original edition:

r P
-P-

P r p r

'Les Bergeries" as it appeared when copied into the 'Anna Magdalena Notebook":

i
^
M. M-

w^^^^mi
^ Rosenblum, 155.

I ^ ^

116

richness of sonority. This technique was described by J.P. Rameau in his Premier Livre de Pieces de Clavecin (1724) in a

table of ornaments, including a musical example featuring the port de volx (see Example 6.5)." Zehnder describes the source

of these techniques: In the Baroque instrumental style, a form exists in which a two- or three-part texture is hidden behind a single melodic line. Such cases were frequently performed in Germany with a suspension (holding over) of the respective notes.... This form of notation was known in France as the style luth6 or style brise and was derived from models in the contemporary lute repertoire. The duration of the plucked note (as is also the case in the lute tablature notation) is not fixed precisely: the note sounds until the finger leaves the respective fret and the string is used for another note. This style was frequently employed in France as a method of harpsichord playing.... This holding over of notes is often written out in full, but when so written gives the music a very complex appearance.... There is, therefore, every reason to believe that the single-line notational system was preferred for ease of reading and that the interpretation, with or without the over-legato, was left up to the performer." The reader will observe that Zehnder does not distinguish between rapidly arpeggiated figures, the notes of which are sustained (for which the present study has adopted the term style brise) and over-legato (or prolonged touch), and of

course he is correct in observing that they spring from the same source: the indeterminate note endings of Baroque lute performance. For purposes of the present study, however, the two practices will be differentiated by the use of two discrete terms, since the former technique results primarily in a thickening of sonority, while the latter produces a perceived melodic addition to the polyphony.
" Rameau, 14. " Zehnder, Part I, 29.(See also Rosenblum, 155.)

117

Example 6.5: Excerpt from Pieces de Clavecin (1724) by Rameau

The "port de voix":

As performed according to Rameau:

P^

118

Obviously, questions of tempo, articulation, and affect, in addition to textural considerations, will have an impact upon whether or not to use this technique. Pieces in fast tempos or dance genres and in the "lighter" meters would be less likely to use prolonged touch persistently, since prolonged touch is in what Baroque musicians would term the "emphatic" category. Zehnder, remarking upon Rameau's port voix says that it "creates an excellent effect with the de

diminishing quality of harpsichord tone (the sound of the held note covers as if it were the attack of the new note, so that the second appears to be quieter)."" This fits quite well with what C.P.E. Bach has to say about the tenderness of adagios being "best expressed by broad, slurred notes," though not with what he says about the detached nature of leaps, since many passages which could employ prolonged touch (for more than two notes, at any rate) predominantly involve leaps. It is likely that even the leaps in "tender" tempos are more likely to be slurred, but the predominance of light meters and lively tempos in the Inventions is one indication that prolonged touch should be used somewhat sparingly in this repertoire. The two primary criteria for the use of prolonged touch are that the polyphonic nature of the passage is elucidated and that the material so enhanced is important enough to warrant the greater emphasis which the use of this technique creates. A possible use of prolonged touch in a lively piece occurs in the F-major Invention, treble staff, mm.24-25 (see Example 6.6).
Zehnder,

In this instance, what appears to be a string

Part I, 28.

119

T^^;Al^ f^l:^-

- - toue.

120

of even eighth notes can be heard as a two-voice texture when the first note of each measure is 'over-held' until the last note of the measure is reached. Prolonged touch in this passage allows the large-scale stepwise descending treble line of mm.21-25 to be clearly heard. On the other hand, a similar passage for the left hand, mm.21-23 of the F-major Invention, would not be a such a good candidate for prolonged touch, since "overholding" the first note of each measure until the last note is reached produces no coherent additional melodic line. Perhaps these remarks on dynamic variety initially seem applicable only to the earlier keyboard instruments, whose capabilities for dynamic contrast were quite limited in comparison to the piano. On the other hand, if a pianist takes this information and applies it to this repertoire, there is the distinct possibility that the effect, as a result of the piano's enhanced dynamic capabilities, may be comparable to the side-by-side perusal of a black and white picture next to a color picture of the same subject: The colorized version can potentially remain true to the outlines of the black-and-white version, while simultaneously giving the viewer an enhanced appreciation for subtle qualities of the subject which may not be visible in the black-and-white version.

121

CHAPTER VII EXPRESSIVE RESOURCES OF THE VARIOUS KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS

Introduction To an extent, the expressive resources of the keyboard instruments of Bach's day have been elucidated by the preceding material, but perhaps some additional remarks are appropriate. A question which frequently arises in reference to the keyboard music of J. s. Bach is "Is there a 'best' instrument for the performance of this repertoire?" In response to this question, David Schulenberg writes The sources for the keyboard music rarely give an explicit indication of instrument, more often using ambiguous terms such as Clavier or manualiter. Even though Bach must have realized that certain pieces would suit one instrument better than another, he evidently accepted the custom of composing in a manner that made most music readily transferable from one keyboard to another.... Nevertheless, Bach's suites... were certainly meant for harpsichord of one sort or another.... All this merely proves that the harpsichord is a suitable medium for the keyboard pieces not necessarily [always] the optimal or the intended one.' This would indicate that while the harpsichord is perhaps the most likely instrument for the performance of Bach's keyboard music (other than pieces specifically designated for the organ), nothing hinders this repertoire from being played upon the modern piano. Schulenberg also notes some general characteristics of eighteenth-century keyboard instruments, contrasting them with modern instruments: The keyboard instruments dating from Bach's time are not standardized.... [Yet each shares] certain
' Schulenberg, 11-12.

122

characteristics that distinguish them from their "modern" counterparts. Besides their limited dynamic capabilities and the absence of anything resembling a damper pedal... [they are] characterized by the distinct timbres of the different registers of the keyboard. When properly regulated they possess light but very efficient actions, and this together with the well-defined attack and release on each note, gives the practiced player precise control over articulation and ornaments, in addition, individual tones on the older stringed keyboard instruments seem to take a bit longer to achieve full resonance than on the modern piano, but they fade much more quickly, a fact having important implications for tempo, among other things. Most notes also seem richer in upper overtones than on modern instruments, so that attacks are clearer and inner voices can be heard even through a complex contrapuntal texture.' Since this information makes it obvious that performance technique will be affected by instrument choice, it seems appropriate to consider the differences between the various instruments in somewhat more detail.

The Clavichord The clavichord was Bach's favored instrument for private practice and performance, as shown by this quotation from the biography of Bach by J.N. Forkel: [Bach] liked best to play upon the clavichord; the harpsichord, though certainly susceptible of a very great variety of expression, had not soul enough for him.... He therefore considered the clavichord as the best instrument for study, and in general, for private musical entertainment.' Marshall interprets Forkel's remarks, stating ...that Bach 'considered the clavichord as the best instrument for study, and, in general, for private musical expression [emphasis added by Marshall].' The tacit implication of this remark is, at the least, that Bach did not regard the clavichord as the 'best
Ibid., 10. David, Mendel, and Wolff, 436.

123

instrument' for his more ambitious keyboard compositions, indeed, Johann Gottfried Walther, in the entry 'clavicordo' in his Musikalisches Lexikon (p.169) notes that the instrument "is, so to speak, for all players the first grammar, that is, a 'primer'in effect, a practice instrument..." " The clavichord has a very small tone which is not suitable for performance in a large room, or for accompaniment of any sort. On the other hand, within its limited capacity it can produce quite sophisticated dynamic changes, subtle articulative effects, and can produce vibrato at will. The treble, middle, and bass registers of the clavichord (and harpsichord) each have their own distinct timbre. The clavichord has a very clear sound, but one who plays it must take care to place the fingers near the ends of the keys, or the resultant tone will "snarl." The amount of pressure needed to make the notes sound, however, is slight in comparison with every other keyboard instrument. It was therefore desirable for young keyboard players in Bach's day to build the strength in their fingers by spending some time playing the harpsichord, which required more pressure, before playing in public. Many clavichords were fitted with pedalboards since organs, the premier public keyboard instruments of the era, were not generally available for practice purposes.' Most clavichords built before the mideighteenth century were "fretted":' that is, most pairs of strings served at least two adjacent notes. The clavichord is the smallest, most expressive, and least costly of all early keyboard instruments, and was therefore the favored
" Marshall, 282. ' Zehnder, Part II, 43. ' Ibid., 43.

124

instrument for the training of young musicians in Bach's Germany.' Several points can be inferred from this information about the clavichord: First, the articulative and metric practices typical of keyboard music in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were not developed merely due to a lack of sensitivity on the part of keyboard players or their instruments. The clavichord, their "primer" in the study of music, is a very expressive instrument, and it is not likely that any sensitive keyboard player, when equipped with a suitable instrument, would neglect to explore the potential of that instrument in imitation of the voice or of string and wind instruments. Second, an instrument which requires a light yet firm touch on the ends of the keys is most compatible with a relaxed, curved, quiet hand position. Any other position tends to cause an uncontrolled and strident noise, as the present writer knows from personal experience. Third, on a fretted instrument (supposing that a particular amount of chromatic passagework is required by the musical text), it is necessary to articulate cleanly so that the proper notes sound at the right time, without unintended dissonances and jangles. Fourth, one who had studied the clavichord for any length of time would naturally try to find ways to play expressively on the harpsichord or organ, by whatever means necessary-

' C.P.E. Bach, Essay, 36ff. Marshall, 282.

125

The Harpsichor_d The harpsichord has much more power than the clavichord, its tone features more brightness and clarity than the piano, and it is capable of very carefully controlled articulative effects. Harpsichords often have two keyboards with several sets of strings, so that the performer can change registration and thus vary the tone and volume, but unfortunately the harpsichord is incapable of producing the dynamic gradations which the clavichord, piano, and even the organ (through use of the Venetian swell) can produce. Yet this does not mean that the harpsichordist can afford to neglect good tone production, since, as Eta Harich-Schneider states [N]othing can sound as ugly, thin, and inadequate as a harpsichord played with bad touch.... In none of the sources from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century is there the slightest support for the view that flat, uniform harpsichord playing with no dynamic curves and no cantabile was felt to be the particular charm of the instrument. On the contrary, we find a unanimous acknowledgement of a certain, albeit weak, capacity for modification, the meagreness of which lends a certain fascination to the task of 'infusing with soul' (as the early masters call it) this inflexible instrument. The treatises repeatedly state that one should improve one's technique and ear by practising the clavichord, in order to make the harpsichord sing as much as possible, and not to play in a monochrome manner.' The Piano The modern piano combines much of the expressivity of the clavichord with some of the brilliance of the harpsichord, and is certainly capable of more power than either, but the much heavier action, deeper keydip, and less
Quoted in Badura-Skoda, 185.

126

tightly focused timbre of the piano tend to cause the articulative details of Baroque repertoire, which should provide interest and variety, to be obscured in a web of continuous sound. Thus, it can be observed that each of these keyboard instruments involves a certain amount of compromise for the performance of this literature (yet each has its advantage, as well), and this is why a firm grasp of Baroque stylistic parameters can be valuable to the keyboard player, regardless of which medium is chosen. Some mention of the modifications which performance of this repertoire upon the piano necessitates may be useful at this point: On the harpsichord the speed at which a key is depressed makes little or no difference to the intensity of a note, whereas on the fortepiano it is the variable speed at which the key is struck, and nothing else, that makes possible the many gradations in volume.... Because of the extremely light hammers employed, this increase does not play a significant role on eighteenth century fortepianos. On modern pianos, however, it can amount to several kilograms.... It is easy to understand that fingers and wrists alone were no longer strong enough to surmount resistance of this magnitude, and that in the course of the nineteenth century a 'weight' technique was developed which requires the performer to play from the arm and even from the shoulders. The modern weight technique is totally foreign to the eighteenth century. When applied to harpsichords or fortepianos it produces an unwelcome knocking sound and an appalling tone.' Harich-Schneider quotes Rameau to show that harpsichord technique demands primarily motion of the fingers, as follows: First you need a soft (or softly quilled) instrument, so that its resistance does not force the fingers (which are still weak in their movements) to derive
" Badura-Skoda, 178.

127

their strength from the whole hand. As the freedom of movement increases, so does the acquired strength, and correspondingly one can increase the resistance of the keys by using harder quills to pluck the strings." Naturally, on the modern piano some use of the arms (and possibly the shoulders) may be necessary regardless of the repertoire, since injuries can be the result of tackling complex textures when inadequate weight is brought to bear upon the relatively stiff action of this instrument. Even though it is useful to focus upon curved, active fingers when playing the music of Bach and other Baroque composers, some use of the arm in the facilitation of articulative details and ornaments is still desirable, since some aspects of this repertoire work less easily on the piano than on the other stringed keyboard instruments. Schulenberg, a harpsichordist, comments on the performance of this music at the piano: In this writer's judgment a good harpsichord or other eighteenth century type of instrument will always be preferable [for the performance of Bach], other things being equal. But Bach's music will continue to be played on the piano, and pianists will continue to make contributions to its interpretation. In principle the piano can do everything the harpsichord (and clavichord) can do. Yet ornaments that can be played crisply and with little effort on a properly regulated harpsichord seem heavier and require stronger fingers on the piano. Chords... practically voice themselves on "original" instruments, while pianists must carefully weigh every note. The greatest problems in playing Bach on the piano, however, are probably not those arising from the instrument per se, but from inappropriate habits and mental conditioning carried over from other repertories for example the horror vacui inculcated in many players at an early age through the insistence on legato pedaling in nineteenth and
' Ibid.

128

twentieth century music. Such pedaling, and the concomitant disregard of slurs in eighteenth century music... discourages the pianist from using the finely honed silences that are one of the harpsichord's most valuable resources [L]egato pedaling like the continuous vibrato of modern string players is an innovation of the mid- or late nineteenth century, and its appropriateness in Mozart, Beethoven and even Chopin is open to question, let alone in Bach. An articulate, unpedaled approach to the modern piano need not be dry or percussive, but it does require placing a certain amount of weight on each note and paying the same attention to each attack and each release as a good organist or harpsichordist does. Doing so makes good musical sense; it is not simply to imitate the older, non-dynamic instruments. Indeed, pianists certainly ought to use dynamic accents on appoggiaturas and suspensions, and there is no reason not to increase and decrease volume to reflect the rise and fall of melodic lines." Badura-Skoda, taking a more appreciative view of the pianist's potential contribution to Bach performance, remarks: No matter which keyboard instrument we choose, we must try to draw from it (or 'bring out') the best, most beautiful, and indeed most magical sound that we can. In this regard there is widespread misunderstanding about playing Bach on the modern piano, for many pianists attempt to 'play the harpsichord', or at least to imitate the sound of the latter. (This is understandable, for every musician is aware that the rounded romantic piano sound produced by a plenteous use of the pedal was unknown to Bach.) However, this often leads to musically unsatisfactory and indeed quite ugly results.... If we are going to play Bach on the piano we must try to bring out the positive qualities of this instrument and produce a beautiful tone. And then the intelligent application of the pedal also contributes to beautiful piano playing.... Of course, the pedal must be used sparingly and released frequently in order not to endanger the clarity of the musical lines. Another way of imitating the harpsichord on the piano, often intentional and usually unsuccessful, is to play aggressively and far too loud.... The rediscovery of authentic instruments and performance
Schulenberg, 12-13.

129

styles has taught us that eighteenth century performances were brighter, more lively, and clearer than modern ones, and also a great deal quieter It is perfectly possible to play quietly and yet clearly and brightly on modern instruments." Though Schulenberg and Badura-Skoda are not in agreement regarding the use of the damper pedal in the keyboard music of Bach (Schulenberg thinks it should be avoided entirely, while Badura-Skoda thinks that it can enhance the intended effect of this repertoire), in some respects their views complement each other: clarity of individual voices and of articulative groupings must not be obscured, a singing tone quality is essential, and the more limited palette of dynamics and sonorities which were usual in Baroque performance must be respected, regardless of which instrument is played. It seems clear, too, that the performance of this music at the piano is a more complicated task than playing it upon the harpsichord or clavichord, since one generally has to overcome pianistic habits which are counter-productive to an idiomatic interpretation of the repertoire. Robert Donington provides a useful way to think about the performance of this repertoire: There are two basic characteristics of baroque sound which, under whatever conditions of performance, it is necessary to achieve: a transparent sonority, and an incisive articulation.... By transparent sonority I mean a tone which lets the details through distinctly and does not fuse them into an atmospheric impression.... By incisive articulation I mean using crisp accents and sharp attacks rather than explosive accents or massive attacks." [emphasis added]

" Badura-Skoda, 184. ^ " Donington, 167.

130

These two characteristics serve to sum up the bulk of both Schulenberg's and Badura-Skoda's discourse upon this subject. Though the foregoing might seem to mitigate against the study of this body of work by students, it is profitable to remember that the caliber of Bach's music is such that the difficulties which are encountered are well worth the trouble one must take in order to "translate" it for performance at the piano. In addition, versatility and sensitivity are good rewards for making the attempt to interpret music which in some ways represents a different aesthetic than the one which modern musicians have inherited. Most importantly, a good performance of Bach's keyboard music requires simply paying attention to some factors (e.g., the profusion of tiny articulative groupings) which may be downplayed in the piano music of the nineteenth century.

131

CHAPTER VIII RAMIFICATIONS OF THIS STUDY FOR PERFORMANCE PRACTICE

A Review of the Information Several guidelines for the interpretation of Bach's Inventions can be extracted from the material presented in the previous chapters of this study. The various meters with their characteristic patterns of strong and weak beats are the first place to look for clues to performance of this repertoire (see Example 3.1). Performers and composers in the early eighteenth century expected the conventional patterns of accentuation to be followed unless an indication to the contrary occurred within the text of the music. Furthermore, characteristics of genres such as the movements of the Baroque dance suite can also serve as guides for the contemporary performer who wishes to achieve a stylistically informed performance of these pieces (see Chapter V ) . A keyboard player who understands that a particular Invention is written in the style of a miniature passepied or gigue can apply known phrasing and other elements of those genres to the Invention he or she is studying. In this way, the relatively bare pages of music from this era have the potential to be expressive in a way which reflects at least some of their original ambience. Other conventions which impact the interpretation of this repertoire are well known, and these are even more specific than the factors which involve meter and genre. Paramount among these considerations is the fact that phrases 132

stay within the barline (and/or do not go longer than one beat) unless one of the following exceptions occurs. First, a slur or tie may be marked by the composer which crosses a beat or barline. when a recurring motive is once marked in this way one can generally assume that it should be phrased the same way each time it appears (see Appendix A, the Fminor Invention, m.3, left hand). In fact, whenever one establishes a particular articulation for a figure in this repertoire it is usual to apply the same articulation to subsequent repetitions of the figure. Second, an important interior cadence or a final cadence will typically impact the phrasing of a passage, since a cadence contains a moment of tension followed by a moment of release. It is most effective to accentuate the moment of tension and to lighten the

moment of release. For example, when encountering an important interior cadence one could slur (emphasize) the notes contained in the chord of tension and then detach the notes of the resolution. This tension and release is usually accompanied by a slight momentary relaxation of the tempo. Third, ornaments will also impact phrasing. Ornaments are accented parts of the fabric of the music which form the beginning of a slur unless marked to the contrary. A trill which begins on beat two of a piece which is written in common-time will indicate an accent and the start of a slurred group at a weak point in the measure in which it occurs (see Appendix A, the E-flat Invention, m.3, right hand). Fourth, hemiola and cross-rhythms are sometimes encountered in this repertoire, and they too require an adjustment in the grouping together of notes (See Appendix A, 133

the D-minor Invention, mm.11-13, right hand). Finally, in a piece where other factors indicate that the tempo should be in one beat per measure, slurs may cover the entire measure (see Appendix A, the D-major Invention), but will probably be varied to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the material. It is the nature of slurs to begin with pressure or accentuation and to conclude with a release on the last note. Slurswith some exceptionsrepresent an emphasis of the musical material which they cover. In eighteenth-century terms, slurred notes are "heavy" while detached notes are "light." Slurs cause the player to take time for emphasis while detached notes lighten the texture and push the music forward. Obviously, detached notes in this repertoire are not the same as the heavily accented staccatos which are encountered so frequently in later eras.' Detaching a series of notes typically indicates that the material receives a lesser emphasis, but is also more lively than a series of legato notes would be. Thus, a melodic figure is more likely to be slurred, while an accompanying figure is more likely to be detached. Since the top line of a piece of music is most likely to be heard as the most important, one can deduce that the right-hand part of the Inventions is somewhat more likely to contain slurred passages than the left-hand part. A slower movement is more likely to be slurred, since it is less lively, while a fast movement is likely to contain more detached figures. Slurs in an extremely fast movement such as a corrente must be simple enough so that they don't cause the
' Hence, the use of the confusing term "semi-detached" for this mode of articulation.

134

tempo to drag. On the other hand, in more moderate tempos short slurs will cause the music to sound more lively than will long slurs. Stepwise melodic motion often receives a slur, while arpeggiations and intervals larger than a third are frequently detached, depending upon the context. Eighteenth-century members of Bach's circle such as Quantz and Kirnberger wrote treatises which give solid guidelines for common articulative and accentual patterns in this repertoire. These are augmented by modern scholarship, including, among others, Butt's study of Bach's articulative practices, and Little and Jenne's study of tempo, rhythm, accentuation, and phrasing for the various dance genres. Metrical pattern, genre, and characteristic eighteenthcentury approaches to articulation are the framework within which a fingering system must be implemented. One must be mindful of several conventions of Baroque fingering, and also bear in mind the fact that fingering practices were changing during the 1720s when the Inventions were written (see Chapter IV). In fact. Bach was at least partially responsible for some novel fingering practices which have remained a standard part of keyboard technique to this day. The most basic principle for fingering the Inventions is the Baroque concept of strong fingers on strong parts of the measure or at the beginning of a slur. The short slurs which are common in the music of the era promote this principle, which is generally followed even though it causes the performer's hand to execute minute hops as it moves up or down the keyboard (e.g., right hand 3434 ascending stepwise, or 3232 descending: See Appendix A ) , and even though one must play 135

the same finger twice in a row with some frequency. The thumb is not used on black keys unless doing so is the best way to execute the phrasing which one has established. The technique of turning the thumb underthe cardinal principle of modern fingeringis used when it will cause longer phrases to be performed effectively and when using the technique will not force weaker fingers into repeatedly playing at strong points in the metrical scheme. Because this fingering system reinforces the articulative customs of the era it is a very valuable tool for one who wishes to recapture the spirit in which this music was originally conceived. The fingering principles stated above are flexible enough to accommodate more than one approach to the performance of this repertoire. The meter, tempo, and rhythmic content of a movement along with any explicit markings added to the music by the composer--indicate which articulative patterns are appropriate. These articulative patterns in turn, when

combined with the known fingering practices of Bach's circle, give the performer a great deal of information regarding which fingering to use in specific circumstances. This

process can become nearly instinctive for one who applies these parameters on a regular basis. Tempos in the Inventions are determined by the known characteristics of the meter, pertinent genres, musical content, and articulative choices. A tempo which is too fast will cause both performer and listener to be unable to enjoy the articulative details which are an integral part of this repertoire. A tempo which is too slow may cause the beat to be subdivided, thereby losing the proportions which are 136

proper to the meter. Bach is said to have preferred lively tempos, but liveliness in performance should not be at the expense of expressive details, as was the case in the breakneck tempos indicated in nineteenth-century editions of the Inventions. At extremely fast speeds the only articulative possibility for sixteenth notes is a seamless legato and detached eighth-notes are likely to be accented sharp staccatos. In the Inventions, when thirty-second notes in lively tempos are encountered, they are slurred together, but this is typically because they function together as a figural element (e.g., a trill, or an arpeggiation), not as independent notes. Dynamic choices will vary for the Inventions, depending upon the instrument one chooses to perform upon. Whichever instrument is chosen, however, several criteria can guide the performer to good dynamic choices: first, the tempo of the piecelight and lively, slow and heavy, or moderate; second, the articulation of a specific passage, whether slurred or detached; third, the speed, texture, and sheer number of notes which sound at the same time; fourth, ornaments especially long trillswhich naturally cause a crescendo; and fifth, cadences or other structural points such as sequences which require a crescendo or diminuendo. It hardly needs to be said that playing with a round, full tone will always be preferable to an ethereal approach to sound production at the keyboard for this repertoire, especially when one remembers Marshall's deduction that forte is the

normal dynamic for the music of Bach.

137

Specific Application of the Collected Evidence to the Inventions The order followed here is that of the 172 3 autograph, since that is the format which is most familiar to modern keyboard players. Invention No.l in C major. This familiar piece in common time presents a couple of interpretive challenges: first, what is the proper tempo; and second, how should the principal motive be articulated? 4 is a lively meter unless otherwise marked, according to Kirnberger. According to Laurette Goldberg, C major is "Somewhat coarse and impudent, but not unsuitable to rejoicing.... a clever composer can rechristen it to something quite charming...."' Two possible

models present themselves for this meter and this piece: the allemande and the Baroque concerto allegro. Rameau's allemande (see Example 8.1) is characteristic of the genre and contains some rhythmic and figurative similarities to the C-Major Invention. Modern performances of this allemande are typically taken at around 60-66 to the quarter-note. When the Invention is played at this tempo the sequential passages do not sound at all "lively." The prelude from Bach's fourth English Suite is a concerto allegro for solo keyboard, containing alternating ritornello and solo passages in a predominantly two-part texture (see Example 8.2). There are some rhythmic and figurative similarities to the C-Major Invention. The

prelude sounds vigorous without being rushed at around 100 to the quarter-note. The Invention can certainly be performed at
Goldberg, 91.

138

Example 8.1: Allemande from Nouvelles Suites de Pigce.q de Clavecin by J.P. Rameau. '~

^m

T
^

^
^ ^ ^

. - ^

-^r-i

iw
w

s^^ ^^^^S
M
n
^ ^ ^

^m
SL^Bi i
W'^

'^\
Paris: Heugel et Cie., 197!

fr

139

Example 8.2: Prelude from the F-major English Suite.

i^^^^S^^
I'reludc

Bach Gesellschaft Edition, 1853, 1863,

140

this pace, depending upon which articulation is chosen. When thought of as a miniature concerto grosso, the Invention can be divided into an opening "ritornello" (m.l through the downbeat of m.7) followed by a "solo" section (mm.7-12), a second "ritornello" in the relative minor (m.l3 to the downbeat of m.l5), a second "solo"(mm.15-18) which leads back to tonic and the closing "ritornello." The implications for

dynamic choices in this Invention should be clear from the foregoing description. The principle of the detached upbeat is the first clue to the proper articulation of the main motive of the C-Major Invention. The three rising sixteenth-notes which begin the motive do not cross a barline, but since they begin after a beat they naturally pull toward the next beat and are less likely to receive a stress than the material which occurs on the beat. It makes sense to detach them so that they move lightly to the next beat. Following these three notes are four sixteenth-notes in pairs of falling thirds. It is typical to slur falling thirds in two-note pairs depending upon the tempo and context. In this case, we have a second clue: a copy of the C-Major Invention exists in which a third note has been inserted between each falling third figure, creating falling triplet pairs (see Example 8.3). It would be nearly impossible to execute these falling triplet figures without slurring them in groups of three. Furthermore, they would be difficult to execute cleanly at a tempo much faster than 84 to the quarter-note. At this tempo the piece as a whole sounds vigorous, but it is still possible to execute two-note sixteeenth-note slurs comfortably. 141

Example 8.3: Triplet version of the C-major Invention.

C: *

-4t

m lf""

"^

From the New Bach Edition, ed. by Georg Dadelsen. Kassel; Barenreiter-Verlag, 1982.

142

The counter-motive of the C-Major Invention (m.l, beats 3-4 of the right hand) is comprised of four eighth-notes which divide into two pairs. The first pair occurs on beat threea strong beatand receives a slur in order to give emphasis to the beat. The second pair could be detached since it is on a weak beat, or it could be slurred since it consists of stepwise motion. The first two times the countermotive appears, the first note of the second pair receives a trill. In the Appendix of the present study, when the counter-motive includes the trill, the second pair of eighthnotes is slurred, but when no slur is present the eighthnotes are detached so that the fourth beat will not receive undue emphasis, and the end of the measure will move lightly toward the next downbeat. The phrasing described for the motive and counter-motive of this Invention is characteristic, in that it does not go against the normal accentual pattern of the meter and the shape of the phrase builds toward the accented eighth-note on beat three. The cadences in measures six and fourteen are classic examples of how the normal metrical pattern can be altered when the occasion arises. In both cases a cadential six/four pattern which includes a trill in the melody occurs on beat four. The fourth beat is normally unaccented but in these two situations it receives both harmonic and ornamental stress, and therefore it is sensible to slur both the left-hand and right-hand parts, and to detach the chord of resolutionat least in measure fifteen, since there is only one note to the resolution in measure five.

143

The fingering for this Invention is quite straightforward, with care taken to ensure that the "strong" fingers are placed on the strong beats. There are only a few instances of Baroque "hopping" (e.g., 12343 descending in the left hand part of mm.12 and 13) and the thumbs rarely play a black key (e.g., m.l4, right hand). Invention No.2 in C minor. This Invention was number fifteen in W.F. Bach's notebook of 1720. It is canonic for most of its length, and this fact causes some challenges for the performer, notably independence of articulation for each hand and one spot (m.l3) where the parts collide with each other to the extent that they must either be played on separate manuals or else the left-hand trill must be omitted and other notes must be cut short. This Invention is another example of a lively piece in common time, but the seriousness of the material coupled with details such as the recurring ornamented "sigh" figure (e.g., m.3, beat 3, right hand) will lead the performer to take a somewhat slower tempo than that which has been adopted for the previous Invention. Goldberg calls C minor "Exceedingly lovely but also sorrowful."' The canonic nature of this movement causes it to be quite different from other Inventions in terms of a primary motive. Here the opening motive does recur a few times, but it is more appropriate to speak in terms of a rather lengthy subject and counter-subject. Because of this, the identification of the articulative pattern to be used for the opening figure, while still necessary, assumes less importance than it does in other Inventions such as the
Goldberg, 92.

144

Invention in E-Flat Major. Some points regarding the articulation of this piece are worth noting at this point, however. The first two notes are detached so that they move gracefully into beat two, where the first three sixteenthnotes are slurred together but the fourthwhich leaps down the interval of a sixthis detached. Detaching this last note provides a contrast to beat three, which is slurred together with the fourth beat. After the barline the next two beats are also slurred together. This phrasing allows the performer to begin lightly and increase the intensity of the subject until it is dissipated by the trill and resolution which occurs between the end of measure two and the beginning of measure three. In the right-hand part of measure five it is appropriate to slur the leap of a sixth which occurs at the beginning of the measure since it happens on a strong beat, and since one can then detach the sixteenth-notes which occur after beat twothey are less importantand move lightly to the longer slur which takes place on beats three and four. In measure eight the two-note slur in beat two is Bach's own, and it indicates that this usually unaccented beat should receive a little extra stress whenever this figure occurs in this Invention. The canonic nature of this Invention also impacts the treatment of cadences. In each of the main interior cadences one part comes to some sort of conclusion while the other continues on its way without interruption. For this reason it has not seemed appropriate to break from the established articulative patterns at cadential points. Nevertheless, the performer would be well advised to give some extra emphasis 145

to these cadences and to allow the tempo to relax slightly in order that the form of the piece may be made clearer to one who listens. In fingering a piece with this many flats it proved impossible to simultaneously employ strong fingers on strong beats while avoiding thumbsand fifth fingerson black keys and following the established articulative patterns. As a result, though the thumb is not placed upon a black key unless doing so is the best option, this is in fact the case quite frequently. The dynamic makeup of this movement should be strong, in keeping with the bold nature of the subject. Cadences, ornaments, and rising sequences will generally be occasions for dynamic intensification, while the resolution of cadences and falling sequential material will indicate a lessening of dynamic intensity. Invention No.3 in D major. This Invention was identified as a passepied in Chapter V of the present study. To summarize the findings from that chapter, this piece is lively, in I meter, has an initial upbeat entrance in the motive, is mostly in four-bar phrases but contains some rhythmic and accentual surprises. Goldberg identifies D major as "penetrating and obstinate. Best suited to joyous, warlike, enlivening material, but may be used on a delicate subject for agreeable and unusual effect "" For purposes

of comparison, a titled passepied by Bach which bears some resemblance to this movement can be found in the fifth English Suite in E Minor (see Example 3.3). Of the tempo and
" Goldberg, 91.

146

articulation for the D-Major Invention, Butt indicates that Virtually every bar of [the D major Invention] receives a slur, implying one accent per bar (most slurs are of indeterminate length). This defines the piece as a one-beat 3/8 rather than three-beat. It may be that Bach feared that the player might accent the second [pulse] of the first bar since this is an appoggiatura.' Some editions of this movement include staccato dots at measure five and analogous passages. These are not exceptions to the normal accentual patterns, but rather "The staccato dots in some editions of the D-major Invention are all erroneous, stemming from a "chance ink-spot" in bar 5 according to Dadelsen...."' The principle of the detached upbeat is observed at the beginning of the movement and at other times in the piece where the primary motive is stated. Groups of six running sixteenth-notes are slurred together, in accordance with Bach's markings throughout the score. Following the advice of Little and Jenne the tempo for this Invention has been given as 48-52 to the dotted-quarter note. This allows the piece to be felt in one beat per measure, and yet it helps the performer avoid the temptation to divide the articulative patterns of the running sixteenthnotes into more than one group per measure. Cadences at mm.11-12, 23-24, 37-38, and 53-54 place the accent on beat two with the release of tension on the following downbeat. One of these, in measure 24, contains a tie over the barline which results in one of the rhythmic "surprises" which is a characteristic of the passepied. Another surprise occurs in
Butt, 165. Schulenberg, 407.

147

mm.39-40, where the turns in the right hand cause pairs of eighth-notes to be slurred together, indicating a hemiola. Finally, in mm.5-8 and mm.49-52 there are repeated two-bar phrases. These would seem to lend themselves to an "echo" interpretationat least on the pianosince doing otherwise causes the repetition of each phrase to sound static. The final cadential figure of this piece as it is presented in the New Bach Edition does not include a trill.'

Robert Donington gives the justification for the addition of a trill at this point: [W]ith the development of the typical cadential formulas of the baroque period, the trill increasingly attached itself to those formulas, until by about half way through the period it became virtually impossible to arrive at an authentic cadence(plagal cadences do not afford the same invitation) without introducing an unwritten trill or trills.... Cadential trills have mainly a harmonic function, which they fulfill by behaving like appoggiaturas, accented from the upper (i.e., the auxiliary) note, on the beat, so that the harmony is heard from the upper note, to which the main note then serves like a resolution.^ Several other Inventions have a trill added by Bach or one of his students at the corresponding position in the final cadence, and in one other instancethe final cadence of the D-Minor Inventiona trill has been inserted by the author of this study. Dynamic variety can be obtained in this movement by observing the architectural elements which make up the structure of the piece: one hand playing alone is not as loud as two hands playing together, while one line of running
" J.S. Bach, Inventions and Symphonies (Kassel: Barenreiter-Verlag, 1982), 9. ' Donington, 125. Georg Dadelsen, ed.

148

sixteenth-notes against a line of eighths is not as loud as when both hands play a series of sixteenths. Cadences and unusual articulative patterns receive emphasis, and rising sequences naturally indicate a crescendo, while falling sequences indicate a diminuendo. The fingering for this movement is quite straightforward. There are only a couple of instances where one finger plays two notes in a row (e.g., mm. 44-45, right hand), and the thumb generally avoids black keys (an

exception occurs in m.32). In this Invention the preponderance of the five- or six-note phrases lie easily under the hand. Invention No. 4 in D minor. Little and Jenne have identified this Invention as a Giga II. Another Giga IIfrom the fifth English Suite in E Minor (see Example 5.10)which has a similar rhythmic pattern when compared with the D-Minor Invention is discussed by Little and Jenne. They suggest a pattern of articulation which has been adopted for this Invention (see Example 8.4). Little and Jenne note that this pattern of articulation causes the Giga II to have "swing,"' which is certainly in character for this lively piece. A tempo of 60-63 to the dotted-quarter note allows the chosen articulative pattern to occur while maintaining the vigor which is an important facet of the giga II. According to Goldberg, D minor is "Submissive and quiet, but also grand, pleasant and satisfying pleasant. "'
' Little and Jenne, 171. " Goldberg, 91.

Generally flowing when

149

Example 8.4: Giga II articulation.

-|XiJ_J..-.lJ.^^_j
Little and Jenne, 171.

J ^

150

Fingerings in this movement proved to be somewhat elusive until a hierarchy of articulative factors was decided upon. At the top of this hierarchy was the decision to follow the normal accentuation of the meter, taking into account any exceptions which occurred. Next in importance came the characteristic phrasing for the giga II which had been adopted. The third factor to be considered was the idea that two-note slurred groups could most consistently be performed at a lively tempo by using the Baroque scale fingering advocated by Bach in the Applicatio of the Notebook for W.F. Bach and elsewhere (i.e., right hand 123434 ascending)." Once this hierarchy had been established a very suitable fingering plan could be devised, with one caveat: the thumb must be regularly employed on black keys. This

poses no difficulty for the modern pianist, of course, but is it the best way to interpret this Invention? Other

articulative patterns could be adopted, but none of them seemed to possess the grace and vigor of the pattern which had been previously chosen. Likewise, other fingerings could be devised which avoided the use of the thumb on the black keys, but then weak fingers were regularly forced to play on the strong beats, and furthermore, the chosen articulative pattern was significantly more difficult to maintain. The result, therefore, is that the chosen articulative pattern has been kept and traditional fingering patterns have been incorporatedwith the exception of the proscription of the thumb on the black keys.

" Bach,

Clavier-Buchlein, 9.

151

This Invention includes the usual articulative exceptions for cadential figures (mm.17, 37, 48), crossrhythm (mm.11, 13, 22, 24), notes tied over a barline (mm.l415, 36-37), and trills placed so as to give prominence to otherwise unaccented beats (m.l5). Though the Invention is notated in 3/8, the entire pieceexcept at the main cadences--falls into two-measure units, thus giving rise to speculation that one could possibly accentuate this movement as if it were in 6/8 (i.e., with a stronger emphasis on the first beat of the first measure of each pair). Invention No. 5 in E flat major. This lively Invention in common time seems more relaxed than the C-Major and CMinor Inventions, probably because the principal subject consists predominantly of eighth- and quarter-notes while the counter-subject utilizes gently flowing sixteenths. According to Goldberg, E-flat major is "Lofty and earnest, often plaintive (but, to Bach, a grand key symbolic of the Holy Trinity)."'^ A tempo no faster than 80 to the quarter-note

will allow this Invention to maintain its image as a lively piece without sacrificing its character. The subject of this Inventionwhich is accompanied from the beginningstarts with two detached sixteenth-notes which lead to two slurred and ornamented eights, which in turn are followed by two slurred and ornamented quarternotes. This opening motive, when articulated this way, increases in intensity to a high point on beat three followed by a release on beat four. It is interesting to note that the mordents in this movement, which really establish the shape
" Goldberg, 91.

152

of the motive, were added well after the composition of the piece." Fewer ornaments were added in the left hand part, inviting speculation that perhaps even the principal motive does not have as much melodic clout when it is found in the bass register. The larger subject is initiallyand frequently thereafterstated in four-measure phrases which build in intensity until a cadence occurs. When the phrase is longer than four measures it is due to the addition of sequential material comprised of the opening motive and counter-motive, which move along in two-measure units. At first glance it might seem that the two-beat slurs attached to the sixteenth-notes which make up the countersubject give the counter-subject undue prominence. A detached interpretation of the counter-subject, however, would endow it with a liveliness which seems excessive for the character of this movement. An articulative pattern which featured twoor three-note slurs in the counter-subject would cause this murmuring backdrop to compete for attention with the melodic material in the other part. Two-beat slurs seem to strike the right balance between "light" and "heavy" or "lively" and

"ponderous" for the counter-subject of this Invention. Four interior cadences (mm.4, 8, 15, 19) and a recapitulation (m.27) punctuate this Invention. Each involves the establishment of a new tonal center. As is typical for much of Bach's output, these cadences do not include a break in the rhythmic activity of the movement, yet they must be emphasized. As in the C-minor Invention, the established articulative patterns have not been broken at the cadential
Bach, Inventions and Symphonies ed. Georg Dadelsen, VII.

153

points, so the performer will need to find a place for the music to "breathe" at the resolution of each of these phrases. Naturally, the final cadence also requires tension, release, and a small slackening of the tempo in the last few beats. A short trill is placed above the third sixteenth note of the first beat of the right hand part of measures five, twelve and nineteen, indicating an emphasis at these points. Why put an ornament in such an obscure spot? The answer seems to be that Bach wished to call attention to the simultaneous beginning of the subject in the left hand. An upper auxiliary start for these trills would certainly be correct according to the chart given for ornamentation by Bach himself," yet this would require four 64th-notes to be played at this point, which would be likely to cause the tempo to lag. A principal-note start for this trill would be less "correct", but could probably be performed without awkwardness. Robert Donington says of the trill Its behavior remained flexible whenever its chief purpose was melodic decoration. In particular, its manner of starting varied between the upper note and the lower note, with consequent varieties of accentuation and to some extent of placing. In this melodic and decorative capacity, the trill is a specific but nevertheless a fluid ornament, and no dependable rules can be set up for its interpretation." The fingering chosen for this Invention has generally been in accord with normal Baroque practice, except where a large slurred leap (e.g., m. 30, right hand) requires the use of the thumb on a black key" Ibid., 66. ' " Donington, 12 5.

154

Invention No.6 in E major. This Invention was identified as a minuet in Chapter V. It is in | meter, is felt in one beat per measure with a small amount of stress on the second pulse of some measures, divides for the most part into regular phrases, and features a great deal of syncopation. The motive and the counter-motive are inseparable in this Invention. Little and Jenne's advice regarding the tempo suitable for a minuet has been followed, with the dotted-quarter note at 46. Goldberg says that for Bach E major signifies "Despair or mortifying sadness; most comfortable (sic) with subjects of helplessness... sometimes so cutting, severe, sorrowful and mordant that one could compare it to a fatal separation of body and soul."" So far, so good. But how is one to apply Baroque articulative principles to a piece in which such an extensive amount of syncopation occurs? A portion of the answer is that one articulates the "straight" rhythms according to their typical metrical patterns (e.g., mm.1-4, left hand) and slurs the syncopated groups until they come to a natural break (e.g., the right-hand part, m.l up until the thirty-second notes on the third pulse of m.3, or m.9 through the downbeat of m.lO). If one articulates the right-hand part of measure four and corresponding passages according to this wisdom (see Example 8.5), however, one runs into two problems. First, slurring this figure according to normal Baroque articulative practice inevitably slows the tempo to the point where the piece is no longer recognizable as a minuet. Second, the piece sounds ungainly and dullcertainly not what Bach
" Goldberg, 91.

155

Example 8 . 5 :

"Normal" s l v i r r i n g f o r t h e E-Major

Invention

feft P

156

intended! John Butt's invaluable study of Bach's articulative practices comes to the rescue at this point. He cites an example from the MS of Bach's Goldberg Variations, Variation

14 (see Example 8.6) which is identical in rhythm and quite similar in terms of melodic content to the E-Major Invention." Bach's dots on the sixteenth notes would give

virtually the same effect as the grouping which has ultimately been chosen for this figure when it occurs in the Invention.' Furthermore, when this figure is articulated in this fashion one finds that the syncopated pulses of the opening measures are being perpetuated (see Example 8.7). In this Invention the exception becomes the rule as far as phrasing is concerned. Placing strong fingers at the beginning of slurred groups and on strong beats is of great importance to the performance of this movement. Since most of the fast-moving figures are grouped in short phrases, it is not too hard to achieve this. The thumb rarely has to be placed upon a black key, but one must be careful to make rapid lateral shifts with a rounded, relaxed hand when playing this Invention. Dynamic shape for this piece can be linked to the increasing tension inherent in a syncopated figure which spans several bars. Also, rising and falling sequences and the main cadences play their usual roles as indicators of levels of dynamic emphasis.

" Butt, 176. " At the speed which has been adopted for this piece it would be impractical to slur only the two sixteenth-notes.

157

Example 8 . 6 : A r t i c u l a t i o n Goldberg V a r i a t i o n s .

from ' V a r i a t i o n 14 of

the

Butt,

176.

158

Example 8.7: Comparison of the chosen articulation with syncopated patterns. Chosen articulation (m.4)

S
1

^ and (2) and (3) and

Syncopated pattern (m.1-2)

iste

1
and 1 and(2) and(3) and

1 and(2) and(3)

159

Invention No. 7 in E_ininor. This is another lively movement in common time which is serious in tone like the cMinor Invention but somewhat more vigorous. Goldberg identifies this key as "Pensive and profound Swift music

may be in this key, but merriment is not therefore implied."" With the exception of measures seven and eight, where the right hand has an extended trill, the treble melody dominates this piece. The left hand regularly plays a fragment of the principal motive, but it never succeeds in capturing the listener's attention in the same way the right hand melody does. This Invention contains many cadential figures, but they are not all at the same level of significance to the articulation of the form. Cadences in measures six, nine, thirteen, and the deceptive cadence in measure 21-22 are the most significant interior cadences. One who plays this Invention must take care not to overemphasize the less important cadences, though they can certainly guide one in terms of the waxing or waning of the dynamic level. The articulation of the primary motive of this Invention begins with two detached sixteenth-notes which lead into a series of slurred notes beginning on the next beat, as is the case in several other Inventions. In this movement the ornaments and the rhythmic content of the material propel the motive to the downbeat of the next measure, where the motive begins again. Sixteenth-notes in this movement are usually arranged in groups of four or eight, and this fact combined with the compactness of the motive causes the fingering for the Invention to be quite straightforward.
Goldberg, 91.

160

Invention No.8 in F major. This well-known and exciting piece was identified as a corrente in Chapter V. To summarize the information from that chapter, this piece is in a fast 4 (120 to the quarter-note), features slow harmonic rhythm, arpeggiation, sequential repetition, has figures resembling an Alberti bass, and includes no ornamentation (see Appendix I). Goldberg states that pieces in F major are "Capable of expressing the most beautiful and virtuous sentiments with a perfect grace, whether magnanimosity, perseverance, or whatever, with a natural moderation and incomparable facility."'" This movement can be played using mostly

detached articulation, but it is helpful to slur the first two notes of most measures togetherespecially the eighthnotesso that one can clearly feel where the downbeat occurs. The opening measure can be thought of as one big detached upbeat to the downbeat of the second measure. The fingering for this Invention is nearly identical with modern fingering principles, which may partially explain its popularity with piano teachers. Care must be taken to keep strong fingers at the strong parts of the measure, however, even when this entails a lateral shift (e.g., mm.46). If this is not done the sixteenth-note sequential passages will become difficult to control at a fast tempo. The left hand part of measures nine through eleven and 31 through 33 involve frequent use of the fourth finger on the beat. A fingering can be devised which avoids this, but it involves too many hand-shifts and thumb-crossings to be

Ibid.

161

feasible at a fast tempo. The right hand somewhat alleviates this situation by always placing the thumb at these points. The dynamics for this Invention follow the range of the primary motive and the sequences which spin off from it up and down the keyboard (e.g., mm.1-6), intensify as more intense harmonies are employed (e.g., m.l9), and relax at the resolution of the one interior cadence (m.11-12). This interior cadence and the final cadence prove to be the only places in the Invention where accentuation anywhere but the downbeat occurs. It could be argued that since the crescendos and diminuendos described here do not work on the harpsichord they are not valid. On the clavichord, however, this dynamic strategy works quite well, albeit on a small scale. Why then should this strategy not be applied to a performance of this work on the piano? Furthermore, what musically sensitive harpsichordist would not wish to imitate the dynamic gradations a string or wind player would instinctively apply to material such as this, were his instrument capable of such a thing? It might be that on the harpsichord one would progressively "hold over" some of the notes as a means of producing a small crescendo effect. Elsewhere, one might increase the amount of detachment between notes in order to make them "lighter." The fact that the pianist does not have to resort to such tactics for dynamic variety does not negate the appropriateness of making the attempt to play this piece expressively, whichever instrument is chosen. Invention No.9 in F minor. This Invention was identified, somewhat surprisingly, as a sarabande in Chapter 162

V. A sarabande is a slow, passionate dance in simple triple meter with a definite secondary accentuation on beat two, and regular formal divisions. This identification of the genre of this movement, along with the many slurs indicated by Bach in the sources, guide the interpretive choices which will be made in this study regarding this piece. Goldberg says that F minor "Expresses beautifully a black, hopeless melancholy and may cause fear and dread in the listener."" The primary

motive contains four slurred sixteenth-notes, two slurred eighths, and a quarter-note tied over the barline to a sixteenth-note. Bach himself fairly consistently slurred the sixteenth-notes, and in one case (m.l3) slurred the eighthnotes in beat two. Did he intend this slur to be an exception or was it a reminder of the "rule"? The contention which is made here is that the slur on beat two of measure thirteen serves as a reminder of the rule for the following reasons: if the eighth-notes which regularly occur on beat two were detached they would be the least emphasized part of the

measure, and this is not characteristic of the sarabande. Deemphasizing the second beat would also have the ungainly effect of making beat three the most emphasized part of every measure in which there was a tie across the barline. Finally, slurring the eighth-notes in the second beat makes for a more "emphatic" or "heavy" interpretation of the movement, which is appropriate. Perhaps Bach marked the slur in measure thirteen to keep the performer from breaking an established habit at the approach to the climax of the first half of the Invention. " Ibid. 163

There is some discussion regarding what Bach meant by slurs covering an entire measure. Butt makes the following statement: Longer groups of semiquavers are also implied in [the F minor Invention], where continuous semiquavers up to a bar's length are slurred together; this contrasts quite strongly with the shorter slurs in the Friedemann notebook, in which each beat is articulated. There is no evidence that the earlier marking is a shorthand for the later, implying a 'general legato' (as Fuch 1985 p. 112 affirms). Indeed, Bach seems likely to have used longer slurs as a shorthand for shorter slurs." In Appendix A of the present study, the differences between the 1720 version and the 1723 version are noted and the longer slurs are retained where Bach indicated them. On the other hand, certainly no attempt is made here to state that the longer slurs imply a seamless legato, especially in light of the fact that Bach explicitly marked slurs as short as two or three notes with some frequency in this Invention. A "general legato" seems like the dullest way in which to interpret this passionate movement. This Invention combines three elements which give rise to a fairly modern approach to fingering: relatively long slurred note-groupings, a comparatively large number of flats in the key signature, and frequent and extensive use of scale passagework. Because of these factors the thumb is regularly turned under in this piece. Typical Baroque fingerings are frequently used as well, though, in order to facilitate the execution of the established articulative patterns. Dynamic variety in this Invention consists almost entirely of a buildup of tension for three measures followed
" Butt, 166.

164

by a release of tension in the fourth measure. Some four-bar phrases are comparatively more emphatic than others, depending upon their harmonic and melodic content. The whole Invention climaxes at the central cadential figure in measures sixteen and seventeen, and this would certainly be the dynamic climax as well. Since the passionate sarabande belongs to what Baroque musicians would have thought of as the "emphatic" category, a larger tone would seem to be indicated. On the other hand, this movement is much more tender and lyrical than the two correntes which stand on either side of it. One can imagine a harpsichordist playing the brilliant F-Major Invention using all the stops which are available to the instrument, but though the F-minor Invention is to be played in an emphatic manner, it is difficult to imagine a harpsichordist using a brilliant four-foot stop for a performance of this piece unless he or she was joking. After all, one need not shout in order to be emphatic. Rather, it is often the earnest whisper which is the most emphatic speech of all. Invention No.10 in G major. Little and Jenne, as noted in Chapter V, identify this Invention as a corrente. Goldberg states that G major "Has much of insinuating and expressive in it. For all that, it is no less brilliant and is as well adapted to serious as well as gay subjects."" Amid many

similarities, two differences stand out when this movement is compared with the F-Major Invention. First, this movement is in I as opposed to f. Second, this movement contains a fair

number of ornaments. As in the F-Major Invention, the first

" Goldberg, 92.

165

two notes of most measures are slurred together to encourage an accent on the downbeat which is followed by a predominantly detached texture. An exception to this state of affairs might seem to occur on the third beat of several measures (e.g., m.4) as the prevailing arpeggiated texture gives way to stepwise motion for a beat. In I the third beat is not accented, but stepwise motion is commonly slurred, and in this case it initially seemed appropriate to apply a slur to the third beat in order to make an acknowledgement that something different happens at this point. In performance, however, it proved to be nearly impossible to avoid giving the third beat of these measures an emphasis which was out of character for both the genre and the meter of the movement. A detached interpretation has therefore been preferred in these instances. The tempo of this movement is slightly more moderate than that of the F-major Invention, but the contrast between three eighth-notes and four sixteenth-notes per beat causes this piece to have a different flavor altogether. Though the eighth-notes are performed without inequality, the movement has a certain swinging quality about it which is simple, bright, and happy sounding. Frequent short ornaments add to the swinging character of this Invention, and the two long trills create a buildup of intensity which culminates in the deceptive cadence in measures 29 and 30. The dynamics in this movement should be bright but never ponderous, with marked crescendos occurring in the sequential passages which lead up to the cadence in measures 166

thirteen and fourteen and in the trills and following measures which lead up to the deceptive cadence in measures 29 and 30. The texture of measures fourteen through seventeen would seem to indicate a quieter approach than that which is necessary for the material on either side of these measures. Invention No. 11 in G minor. Here one encounters another serious yet vigorous piece in common time. According to Goldberg, G minor is "Almost the most beautiful key. Combines earnestness, amiability, grace and complaisance."'" None of the ornaments were originally part of the piecethey were added by Bach at a later date"yet each seems to be "expected" in its context. As in the other lively common-time Inventions, one initially encounters detached sixteenth-notes which lead the ear lightly to the second beat. In this instance the subject is lengthythree measuresand is accompanied by the counter-subject. Three events stand out in this movement: cadences in measures eleven and sixteen, and a recapitulatory section which begins in measure eighteen. This Invention is quite tightly organized, with the hands trading the subject and the counter-subject back and forth for most of its length. Unlike some of the other Inventions this piece, with its serpentine subject, requires short slurred groups most of the time. These factors cause the older Baroque fingerings to work very easily. In fact, this movement lends itself more naturally to the older fingering patterns than any of the other Inventions. As has been the case so often in these works, dynamic intensity increases in the measures preceding the main
'' Goldberg, 92. "Bach, Inventions and Symphonies, ed. Dadelsen, VII.

167

cadential figures, and increases or decreases along with the rise and fall of the sequential material. Naturally, an increase in dynamic intensity also coincides with an increase in the number of ornaments which are applied to the texture. A dramatic work such as this requires a full, round tone, but it is perhaps not as brilliant as the F-Major, G-Major or A-Minor Inventions. Invention No. 12 in A major. This Invention, like the D-Minor Invention, is a Giga II, and the two pieces can easily be played at the same tempo (63 to the dotted-quarter note). The two works are not similar in terms of musical material, affect, or articulation, however. Goldberg identifies A major as "Extremely exhausting in spite of some brilliancy."" Both the subject and the counter-subject are

long and meandering, moving from stepwise motion to arpeggiated figures in sixteenth notes, the subject commencing with a series of ornamented repeated eighth- and quarter-notes. Almost every second measure contains cadential harmoniessince this is how frequently the subject and counter-subject trade handsbut most of these cadential harmonies are swept away in the continuous flow of sixteenthnote motion. Only one cadence prior to the end of the Invention, in measures eight and nine, seems to play a role which serves to mark a relatively large section of the piece. This cadence corresponds to the beginning of the second section of a rounded-binary movement. Later, the return of the first material in the tonic key occurs at measure eighteen.
Goldberg, 92.

168

The New Bach Edition includes varying ornaments for the different statements of the subject of this Invention, which could have been haphazardly applied. On the other hand, it is possible that the more ornamented entrances were intended to have more audibility than the sparsely ornamented entrances, and that Bach was purposely varying the dynamic levels of the various statements of the subject. The dynamics are architecturally built into the texture of this piece in several other ways.^' Invention No.13 in A minor. This brilliant piece in common time contains perhaps the fewest interpretive challenges of all the Inventions. The articulation for this movement is mostly detached, with slurs serving to clarify the position of strong beats and to give emphasis to cadential figures in the usual manner.' The form of the

piece is underscored by two interior cadences (mm. 6 and 13), a return of the motive in the tonic (m.l8), and two climactic moments (mm. 9 and 24). There is no added ornamentation in this Invention. Its predominantly arpeggiated figuration is easily fingered according to principles which are comfortable for modern keyboard players while generally abiding by the Baroque guidelines discussed elsewhere in this study- Dynamic contrast in this piece is guided by the rise and fall of the arpeggiations and sequences and by the tension and release of the cadential figures. Goldberg says that A minor is

" See the discussion of this matter in the D-Major Invention section. " See the discussion of this matter in the C-Major Invention section.

169

"Plaintive, decorous, composed and somewhat soporific (but not therefore displeasing)."" Invention No.14 in B flat major. Here is a lively common-time piece which is different from any of the other Inventions which fit into this category, since thirty-second notes make up a large part of the texture. A tempo which is too fast (e.g., Czerny's marking of 88 to the quarter-note for this Invention)" will turn the piece into just one more finger exercise, A tempo which allows the beat to be subdivided could potentially be quite lyrical, but the accentual patterns characteristic of common time will most likely lost, and furthermore, this piece seems to favor liveliness and drama rather than lyricism. A tempo of 6 0 to the quarter-note has been preferred for this Invention in Appendix A. According to Goldberg, B-flat Major is "Very entertaining and sumptuous. Something modest is contained in it, enabling it to pass simultaneously as magnificent and dainty."" Two articulative patterns for this Invention were established as follows. First, beats which primarily involve thirty-second notes are slurred together, since they are material worthy of emphasis which in any case consists of one indivisible figure which is too fast to be detached effectively. An exception to this principle occurs in beat four of measure fourteen, beats two and four of measure fifteen and beat two of measure sixteen. In these instances detaching the sixteenth-notes at the beginning of the beat
" " " Goldberg, 92. See Table 5.1 . Goldberg, 92.

170

preserves the lighter character of the weak beats as opposed to the more dominant character of the slurred strong beats. Second, sixteenth-note arpeggiated figures are slurred in two-note groups except at the very end of each measure, where they are detached. At the end of the Invention (m. 16) the subject is stated canonically between the hands, and there this principle is altered somewhat in the name of preserving the accentual pattern of the meter. Dynamics in this Invention revolve around the rise and fall of the melodic line, sequential repetition and cadential punctuationas is the case for the other members of the seriesbut they are especially impacted by the busyness of the texture in this movement. The opening of this piece is rather calm, but becomes increasingly dramatic in measure nine and the following measures. The drama is not reduced significantly in the recapitulatory section which begins in measure sixteen, relaxing only at the final cadence. The fingering for this Invention falls into place once the articulation is decided upon. Strong fingers are placed upon strong points in the measure, but the thumb somewhat frequently ends up on black keys. Some lateral shifts are necessary for the execution of the chosen fingering. Invention No.15 in B minor. This final Invention is another lively piece in common time. According to Goldberg, B minor is "Bizarre, listless, melancholic and therefore rather seldom encountered."" Performance of the ornaments and slurs

which are featured in the subject lead to a suggested tempo of around 88 to the quarter-note. In this subject a series of
" Ibid.

171

detached sixteenths and eighths on unaccented parts of the measure pull toward an ornamented "sigh" figure on beat three. The pattern is repeated, this time with the sigh landing on beat one. This articulative patternalong with the generally slurred running sixteenth-notes of the countersubject which appears for the first time in measure three forms the basis of nearly all of the articulative decisions which are made in this movement, except for the usual deviations at main cadences. The short trills on accented beats in this subject cause the shape of the phrase to be quite easily defined. Fingering and dynamic decisions are made according to the parameters which have served as reliable guides in other Inventions. The only interpretive decision which proved to be somewhat difficult in editing this Invention was the question of whether or not to slur the two opening sixteenth-notes of the subject. Initially it seemed that a slur gave more emphasis to the beginning of the subject, and was therefore favored. Later and more conclusively, the lively character of the movement seemed impeded by an emphatic articulation of the first two notes, and a detached interpretation was adopted.

172

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Little, Meredith and Natalie Jenne. Dance and the Music of J.g. Bach. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991. Marshall, Robert. The Music of J.S. Bach; The Sources, the Style, the Significance. New York; Schirmer Books, 1989. Newman, Anthony. Bach and the Baroque. Press, 1985. New York; Pendragon

Neumann, Frederick. Performance Practices of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. New York; Schirmer Books, 1993. Ottenburg, Hans-Gunter. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Trans, by Philip J. Whitmore. Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1987. Palisca, Claude V. Barogue Music. 3rd ed. NJ; Prentice-Hall, 1991. Englewood Cliffs,

Quantz, Johann Joachim. An Essay on Playing the Flute. Trans, by Edward J. Reilly. London; Faber, 1966. Rameau, Jean-Philippe. Pieces de Clavecin. Ed. by Kenneth Gilbert. Paris; Heugel et Cie., 1978. Ratner, Leonard. 1992. Romantic Music. New York; Schirmer Books,

Rosenblum, Sandra. Performance Practices in Classic Piano Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989. Sabourin, Carmen. A Schenkerian Study of J.S. Bach's TwoPart Inventions Presented in their Original Ordering. Doctoral diss., Yale University, 1989. Schulenberg, David. The Keyboard Music of J.S. Bach. York: Schirmer Books, 1992. New

Smend, Friedrich. Bach in Kothen. Trans, by John Page. St. Louis; Concordia Publishing House, 1985. Spitta, Philipp; Johann Sebastian Bach. English translation, London; 1889. Reprinted, New York: Dover Publications, 1951. Tureck, Rosalyn. An Introduction to the Performance of Bach. London; Oxford University Press, 1960.

176

Tiirk, Daniel Gottlob. School of Clavier Playing. Trans, by Raymond H. Haggh. Lincoln; University of Nebraska Press, 1983. Weiss,Piero and Richard Taruskin. Music in the Western World; A History in Documents. New York; Schirmer Books, 1984. Williams, Peter. "Figurae in the Keyboard Works of Scarlatti, Handel, and Bach; An Introduction," In Bach. Handel. Scarlatti; Tercentenary Essays, p. 328 ff., ed. by Peter Williams. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1985. Wolff, Christoph. J.S. Bach; The Learned Musician. York; W.W. Norton, 2000. New

Ellwood S. Derr, Walter Emery, Eugene Helm, Richard Jones, and Ernest Warburton. The New Grove Bach Family- New York: W.W. Norton, 1980, 1983. Yumiko, Ide. A Structural and Stylistic Analysis of Selected Inventions and Sinfonias of Johann Sebastian Bach. Doctoral diss., Columbia University Teachers College, 1980. Zehnder, Jean Claude. "Organ Articulation in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," The American Organist; Part I Vol. 17, No. 7 (July, 1983); Part II, Vol. 17, No. 12 (December 1983).

177

APPENDIX A A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN TWO-PART INVENTIONS BY J.S. BACH

178

A PERFORMING EDITION OF FIFTEEN TWO-PART INVENTIONS BY J.S. BACH The text of the Inventions used in this study is based upon the Bach Gesellschaft Edition which was published in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Bach Gesellschaft was

based upon the 1723 MS and is quite accurate, but nevertheless contains a few errors and omissions. One such

error in the Bach Gesellschaft is the lack of a slur in the treble staff (measure 13, beat two) of the F-minor Invention, which is found in Bach's 172 3 copy. The Bach Gesellschaft

has therefore been compared with both the 1720 ClavierBiichlein vor Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and the 17 23 fair copy, with preference given to the latter. The Neue-Bach Ausgabe (New Bach Edition) was helpful in terms of deciding which ornaments to include as part of the basic text. Other ornamentsincluded in parentheses in this studyare (1) later additions by Bach in the manuscripts according to Georg Dadelsen (editor of the New Bach Edition), are (2) from Wilhelm Friedemann's book, or are (3) originally found in two copies of the Inventions (known as "Gerber" and P219") which were copied by two of Bach's students. "Expected" short trills have been added in parentheses at the final cadences of the D-major and D-minor Inventions. The rationale for this is given in Chapter VIII of this study- The Henle edition of the Inventions was also consulted, and Butt's text on articulation in the music of Bach proved to be quite helpful, especially in the F-minor and D-major Inventions. 179

m a couple of places where Bach's slurs are quite vague-notably in the treble staff of m.l7 of the B-minor Invention-this study does not follow the New Bach Edition, in this instance preferring three-note slurs to four-note slurs. These seem

Though the New Bach Edition is beautifully done,

to make much more musical sense and they are certainly not precluded by the manuscript sources. The establishment of a good musical text of the Inventions is essential, but the goal of this study is to add interpretive details to that text. In order that the reader

may understand what is original to Bach's text and what is editorial content in Appendix A, the following clarifications are made: The primary manuscripts for the Inventions in C major, D minor, E-flat major, E major, E minor, F major, G major, G minor, A minor, and B-flat major contain no slurs. All slurs in these ten Inventions are editorial. The

manuscripts for the Inventions in C minor, A major, and B minor each contain a few slurs by Bach. as such in footnotes. These are indicated

The Inventions in D major and F minor

contain numerous slurs, and therefore a copy of the Bach Gesellschaft edition is included after both of these Inventions for purposes of comparison. What follows is an interpretation of the Inventions utilizing the known stylistic parameters of Bach's circle and era. More than one general approach could potentially have been used for some of these pieces, and there was more than one path which could have been chosen for specific articulative details of many of the Inventions based upon the available evidence. The material presented in this Appendix 180

is therefore not to be thought of as the only possible interpretation of this repertoire, but rather as a plausible reconstruction which adheres to what is known of Baroque performance parameters. Below are several guidelines which

have been adopted in the editing of these works. When the thumb has been employed on a black key it is almost always because its use enables the pattern of "strong fingers on strong beats" to continue, or because other solutions are simply uncomfortable, even for one who is used to Baroque fingering patterns. In many instances a

parenthetical option has been given which does not place the thumb on a black key, --Notes which are not slurred are intended to be played with some amount of detachment from surrounding notes. The fact that a note is detached does not mean that it is to be accented, however. In Baroque music detachment typically

indicates a "light" execution, while slurs indicate emphatic execution. Slurred groupings receive an emphasis on the first note and a definite release on the final note of the group. Bach's slurs as found in the established text have been retained and extrapolated to corresponding places in the music. Other slurs have been added in accordance with the

character of the meter, genre, tempo, figuration, and texture of the piece. A tenuto mark indicates that a note is to be held for

its full duration but not slurred into the next note. This differentiation between a slurred group and a single note which is held for its entire length has been deemed necessary 181

because the end of a slur indicates a release-a break in the soundwhich in a couple of instances (notably, in the Fmajor Invention) was undesirable. A line which places a box around a few beats of music indicates a major interior cadence. Usually the box includes

three elements: the chord of preparation, the chord of tension, and the chord of resolution. Major interior

cadential figures usually involve increased emphasis, some adjustment of the pattern of accentuation, and a slight momentary relaxation of the tempo. Final cadences have not

been given boxes in this studythough they certainly deserve attentionsince their presence and placement is so obvious. Recapitulatory sections, when present, are indicated. usually require some special emphasis. --A large asterisk is used to indicate a climactic moment in the movement. Often this happens at the These

culmination of a sequential pattern, but it also elsewhere. In the G-major Invention the large asterisk in m. 27 indicates the beginning of the final "ritornello," since this is a major structural point but cannot strictly be called a recapitulation. Dynamics per se were not added, but they can be deduced from the foregoing elements and from the "architectural" elements which are discussed in Chapters III, VI, and VIII. Metronome markings for the Inventions have been supplied in this Appendix. Each is based upon known elements of the meter and/or dance genre, and includes consideration of the musical material, including ornaments and articulative 182

patterns. These metronome markings are not, however, to be thought of as binding the performer to a specific rate of speed. Rather, they represent an attempt to give the

performer a guide to an approximate tempo. O n e who is encountering Baroque fingering patterns for the first time would be well advised to first practice the scale fingering found in Example 3.2 and try it in several other keys as well before attempting to play the Inventions. The skill of making small lateral shifts (or hops)necessary for the performance of this repertoireis easily mastered by practicing a few scales. When performing the Inventions as they are interpreted here it is important to remember that regular emphasis of the strong/weak patterns found in each meter and the articulative patterns which are presented in this study form a subtext which supports, but does not dominate, the musical material. If these elements are allowed to become dominant in performance the result will be boorish and ungainly rather than stylish and expressive. On the other hand, these pieces

will seem to meander aimlessly if the rhythmic and articulative subtext does not support the musical material. A comparison with poetry may be of value at this point: A poetry reading in which the meter dominates the text in a sing-song fashion quickly tires the ear, while a poetry reading in which the meter is disregarded seems overly mannered and artificial. What is neededboth in the reading

of a poetic text and the performance of musicis a balance between arbitrary freedom and rigid, bombastic observance of the metrical and articulative conventions. 183

Invention 1 in C Major
liWV 772 J. S. Bach

1 5 4 3 1 2 3

32

')

^1 ^

^
4 3 4 1

^m i
1 2

32 ^w

1 2

^ "

S[

3i~iE 3 2 1 -

i
4 13 2 4

184

*
w

3;

:^ * ^

JpFf^i^

T'-r^-vn*^

^^|f^5S^
5 4 3 4 5 2

10

f^^^^^^-^mmi
12
S y

jf

fej
2

S.
5 5 3 2

~ #

12

^ ^fei ^^f^^X^

OTgg

z):F^^gLfrfrj-if^

185

[Retmn of the motive on liic tonic] 4

gi

: L p P y f > ^ : C&
3

^
5

2
21

1
XSI

Eg

s
1

S
4

186

Invention 2 in C Minor
inVV 773
,J. S Hacli

^ 76 80

187

(2 4)

3 1 3 2 5

54 2 1

* Bach's slur in the 1723 MS. ** Omit the trill when playing this piece on a single-manual instmment.

2 12

4 3

1 3 2 1

'^ r r r r
^

^m
^
2

s
3 2 1 3

rt
5

kecapiUilatioi

A ^g ESr:

m^F
2 3
3 I 2

1 3

13

2 5

4 1

12 31

1 1 3

3 1 3 2 3

32

# ^

XE:

^
T

P
1 7

S
4
3
1 2

5 1

190

Invention 3 in D Major
HWA' 774 S. Hacii

32 32

i^ P ^m
Echo^ ~4

^ ^ ^

i
mm

m
!s:
3 1 4

i
i\- ft

&

r"

:x:

f
191

12

3 4

21

^^g f = ^ ^ p = ^ P^^^^
12 1 2
3 4 3 4 2

32

32

1 3

192

0-

^'

) '

I-

-if..

-^

.f^,)

**

^"^^^^^^ ^ T

F 1

3 3

\f=f='T=^^P^=^
2

;s

(4 1

5) 2

^ ^

*M

ferf

^g^
32

^i~

f
^ ':M.
2 (1

*P^^^^i

^ ^ ^ _:
^^ m ^ 5 - 3

193

34

32

E
^ ^ ^

i ^ ^

^4

3212 (OO)

3212
[OO)

9ap^
1 3 1 4 1 3 1 41 2 (3) 1 4
3

Recapitulation 3
^

^ ^

'^ ' 'ii L E m j

3 4

&

194

44

3 2

P^^

r
^

s
Fxho?

fcJ
ST

5
:s3

a^^^^^
1 1 2
50

tEE^E^

^ =
IS"

Wg
53

i
3 1

_31 2 1
ICVJ)

3
^

:^

195

55

^S

-d

^s=v

?EEE^EE^EE^feE^^
2 3

* i

S
=^=3t
3^

^ ^

196

Invention 3 in D Major
B \ \ \ - 774 as il appears in Ihe H.icli (icscllscli.ill lulifion J. S Batli

m
f^
-j--!.ij

1 r r r0

. =
0

\\-9

>' ^

^^ r

r ^ > =
m

srrr

197

10

C\D

N
^

m
- "

;: -p
I* _"

7
_

i\- H _

-p

1m

^m

fe
-iir r f
19

1
r^

^^m
"T:T~

S
^
21

i
# ^

^i

"i^

=F=^

P^
198

^^rr^
^H^^^ > ft
51

"i*^^

1*

= = r ^ = ^ ^ ^
- ^ ^

___^-

.^^

1 ^ ii 'r^^^
^ % = ' ^ ^ ^ -

^ = =-'i p- 7^

p '-jT >

r r > ^^^f
-W

rrT

33

/:

^:i #^i

^-

(rp ^

'i ^

Ii

. . J

-^^

Wh^ '^^^ ^ r r b - \^ J J J J J
199

3S

C\5

*F

i
^ = ^ = ^ = ^ H ^
CNJ

i
^
43

40

* ^

m
^

&

s
-^^

s
46

tijr JJ'

200

oo

"isTi-r^^
^ ^ -*

S
i
/0^

-^<r^
^

^m

<J

201

,
J

Invention 4 in D Minor
inVV775
J, ,S. Ha 5 4 3 2 4 3 2 3 I) 2

6(H>3
(2 1 ^ 3 4 3 4 1

Pi 1^
3,

i
5 4 3

i
3

3 3

ir=t
^ 5

1 4

b .-nTf

s
;^=J&
^ ^ 4 3 4

m
^

1 4

P
1 ^ 4 3 3

I
f^f^^
3 5

:z_

P
-/

10

Si
5 1 3 202

^ 3

3
3 3

lo

-^

32

,'
0

3 '0 '0 ~

: ^

L^^w=z
5 1 i23) 32

rf3

~ " ^ ^
0

-J
5

-J^

^ ^ ^ ^ ^
3 3

)
19

^^=F^ ^

P
3 3

m^^
1 3

m
1 3 3

^'-=::i

IjJ ^_ f
- 7 ^
4 (3,

*=?

--.

^
4 (3)

203

:^

int^i^
P
(2 1

tJS

P
3

?
3 3

^Y^ I
3
37

4 3

m
i
3

32

3
^
4 3 2 3 3

204

40

P^
WMp:
^ 4 3 Recapilulalion 1 3^_^ ^ 5 4 3 3 3 3
43

^
1

J ^
3

m
3

50 ^

m
=SI

32

^ 5 2 3

PI
3 3 205

Invention 5 in B-Flat Major

inVV 776

J.S. Bach

1 4

21 14
3
^

I '' E w c m g B i ^

et>* ^

* According to the New Bach Edition, all ornaments except those in the final measure of tlus ln\ enlion aie later additions by Bach. ** This mordent could be omitted, in accordance with similar passages in the right hand (e.g., mm. 16, 23, 27). 206

3
10

pe^Epg
f ,f
1 5

i
4 1 2 1

wm
5 1 2 13 2

^^m
15

14
^

1 4 24 1 4

kteiii=

g
^g
5 1

mv^
5 3 1 2

Iifmt

207

3
17

^ ^

^L
5 1 5 4 31 1 18

f ^g- r f3 1

m^
1
4 3 T

1^

gEEg^

SS

w:.'

m^
3 5
21

2 1 2

B
12 1'
3 3 14

i Sii Si E.I^^,-1t3"^
4^
5 13 2 3 14

123

BE

te
4 J4
12

\m^ssm
2 1-^3 t3

S^

208

'> b v ' Liz-U

Recapitulation
27

2
2^^

^ ^

SE

P
5 1

i
5 1
32
29

0 r ^ 0

rissss

5 1 53

S
^

i^S
5 1 4 2 1 (3)

13 2

^^m mmm
Qi

209

31

3 2

1*I~^^ ^

3S=Tc^^fei5
. p 1,

^'-'

*&J " 1 *j " f # V 0^ r^

-^

-\-

^^^rf
^

210

Invention 6 in E Major
B\\'\ 777 .1. S. Bach

3 5

.^

12

1 3

1 3

^m t
if
^
/ ^

-^'

V- g/tt J r ' V ^

^
2 1

"ttatil 2

S
4 3 3 i

1^ *i ff

0-^^

1
S

P
1^ ^
0

^ rm

# ^ 't ^

~i 3 1

r^
i

3 12 1 3 :W^ =

M^^

^K--T#

f^\-r-py-^y

?T"^

- 4

gVi^
211

M-4^

^
^

Iis^te*
M m
^
3 I

^m

^-Mr^ E
3 1

S
2

3
2
2

^ 1

^A ' r ^/Tr

* fff=^ t
^ ^

3 2

13 ^

3 2 1 3__ _ ++.r:^
<*U^

3 2 2

13 5

tlr^r -.

tfp

212

M*^
gg^S ^
1 3 _
%

1
-K

3^11

3 2

* ,

1 3 4 2 1 1 2 2 2 4,

32
=

i
wt
5 2 3
12

m
zzl

'>,''r r f 39 1 3

^
== ^

F^l *

^ 5 ^

*J.^ ^y
# V

O: i l

?
1

B3
3

43

13 i
^

= ^ 1 ^

'jf^ r r r ^
1 2 1
1 \

* - 1 0 -^ 1 3

0 4

1 -

- 3

213

1^
^tt^ l'

^
-0BT-

Ef
3^

'^^^rzT-

12

1 0

1 -] ^

^"^

'
0 - 0 ^

=^=^

^ ^

h-^^^ ^-^ I-,. . 0--=

^0-^

rw=
^

rf-r-.
TT"

214

Invention 7 in E Minor
BWV 778 S. Bach

J^ 88-92
32

^5
M

^m

32

^S

csrat

-1

1 2

t
^
32

i
^ ^ 1

s
2 1

1 3

3SEE^3E

3 4 12
(23) 32

32

l ^ i ^
g-^r-Ji^
3 2 1

Si

i^^
^EEEEEE
215

H^
^

.<2
'.'0-. m~i 10-0

3 4 3 1 -^4 3 5

-^4

.^

.">

3 1 3

m^^
14

ii^
^

^^m^
32

32

1 2

zzz ^

>1<
-iS^

S^pg3 V^JT^
12 3 12 12 = ^ ^ 1

\/^)..

* This toll is not in the 1723 version, but is in the 1720 MS. If it is omitted in perfonnance it ma} be necessary to re-stnke the b, preferably on beats one and/or three.

216

2 1 2 2 5

18

mm^=m
3 3 2

is

m
3

B^^
2 12 3 2 12 3

32

i ^ ^

^s
3 1

^
3

i g^^ljJ-J^^a
13 4 2

217

32

mi

218

Invention 8 in F Major
B\\'\'77V . I S . Bach

J 120
3 3 3 4 1 4

i
3 2

^^m
1

3 3 1

^^^m
3 1

219

'
^ ^ ^

14

1^
eit*
1 3

llSS
4 I

:^^
4 1

"^^TT^J
16

m^S
1

3
1 3 12

^mmfl
g
1 2 3 1 3 13 1

2 3 2 13 4

2 3

220

2
1
1

^
3

r
4

P:
^

0
K

.
W

<

1*

i
S

1 2

=,
^

^ 3
^ ^

if
^

i
^

^m
25 3

"^i^O H f
f f r r

^
5 1 3

S
5

^
4 3

- ^

S
^^^7^

S S
5

^^3
4 3

221

12 1
^

4) 3

1 .^

ZZl

S^g#
F^^
1 4 1 4

Pi^
.1 1

J-J-TI-^^ 4*3-^5
3 3 1

iElJ
^ 1

'^; "^

^^^^P^^^
1 4

-^=-^

31

33

^
4

^
1 2 3

222

Invention 9 in F Minor
B\\\'78() J S. Bach

J^ 69-72
^

m
1 4

3 2

t* S

^S
1 2

mt^
2 3

^ fey=F

yr r r r r p y g ^ f
5 2 1 2 3~^-

r'~'^JJjM^ iSt^

1*
*Shorter slurs from the Notebook for W. F. Bach

?
'1 223

^
-^

m
3

1 3

ii a^

i^j:^^^
rjv|
^
1

WW^.
^
11

^=3
1

t ^
^ ^

S = ^ = ^
3

S^i> .

ig - jH ^^ g p ^ V ^^ 'j^
1 2 12

m^ E L g r ^ ^ -

224

1(1

ki: s
\^--

p
^
2 1,^ 1 .^

C^B
S

i*

P
3 2 1 2 3 13 4

.'HJiH, j

.v^|'i>rr^
iJ 2 4
22

i i
^
2 3 3

')\\>n r\ ^r=>^

225

24

r ^ ^
^
^

k^^ S

(5 _4

5; 3

f E E E ^ ^

g
^

W.-MMi
I> \4 53 4

1 3

kt=^
^ ^

> ^ A' [_f

3 1
28

m i
Recapitulation

1*

a
m
^i
1 ^ 3 2

'^- j'i> J

30

a>>

a
3 2

2 1

=^)-i.ii.i'.m, - T O ^ FjhXn ^ ^, ^,
3 1 2

12

j^g

226

1 2 1

^- '.M 2 1 3 / 32 1 2 32

oo

Uv"

ff

1g_

^
3

^
3 4 2 3 4

227

Invention 9 in F Minor
BW \' 780 as i( appears m (he Bach (leseMschali lidilioii J S Bach

ite^i^^
^

m^
^

i:fe=g

S=:^

B
^ .

te^
^m^Tftft
1* s

* *

^r^rttffm
te S

ii^

228

' ^ = ^

-'b''i>]iJJ-Vi'W^ jst^ E3^

13

'rSclrr?^_j

1* s

Ji
^ ^

229

lo

OO

m
^

i^w

PS
^

g ^

IS

s1 *

jF^^^ jirrr^TT^rV
f-fif^ p ^Q^

ygrfrrr:j
1^ S

^ ^ 1

y^"i,b f p t . . r |-

ff^ji^

E
B i

S i

^^m
i*

yft^^

230

26

g
3 5 g ^
^ ^

feSi

28

in ^
^ ^

^i^
T-#

';-bi'i,i-J- -

>p

231

232

In\ention 10 in G Major
inV\' 781

I S . P,ach

' = 112^116

1
^ 5 1

F=^
^

fe^
1

^ 3

^Si
2 3 5 3 1

hi J r r 1=J=^

3^*~ff ^

3 2 1

^ (^1 ( ^

^ 1 2

1 3

1 3

233

1
13

i
2 1

32 (^)

^ i

-t

s
15

-v%:-

1 = ^

mM
12
17

1=^

r^=
3EE^
(-WJ

w
12
2

234

,9

23) 32

n.

\ -^

0-

_^_

ra*
3
3 ? r

12 21

3 J

P
^
3 2

f I
. S 3

^ ^
3 2 1

23

l^-f
25 3

1 ^ ^ >^r r . r
3

. r

r 1# i *

' ^ L LJ - ' ' L U j

2

^J

lo).

^ J
0^ )
1 ^ )

-A
= ^

12 (21)

32

g
^ ^ ^
1 2

1 2

27

*.

* y *
235

m m S mmM
29 4

0 r

m=m^-

:=at

? ^

3 32
" ^

236

Invention 11 in G Minor
inVV 782

J. S. Bach

J^ 88

34 5

4 3 2

(1:

14

^"rj^gM I ^^m
1 3
1 3

^^^B
w^
^ ^ ^

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*This is the one ornament which Bach included in the 1723 MS.

238

Rocapitulation

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239

Invention 12 in A Major
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240

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243

Invention 13 in A Minor
BWV 784

J. S. Bach

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246

Invention 14 in B-flat Major

H\VV785 J. S. Bach

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Invention 15 in B Minor
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253

APPENDIX B FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE 1720 AUTOGRAPH

254

FORMAL CONSIDERATIONS, LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY AND CONSEQUENT PLACEMENT IN THE 1720 AUTOGRAPH

The following quotations were useful in understanding formal elements in the Inventions, though none of them were quoted in the text of the study.

Level of Difficulty and Consequent Placement in the 1720 Autograph The significance of the pieces' original order has been noted by Derr (1981), who even discerned a grouping of the original praeambula into "triptychs" --that is, groups of three that are distinguished by various details of form and compositional technique. The basis of some of Derr's groupings, such as the supposed need for two manuals in performing pieces of the third "triptych" (starting with the one in B minor), is debatable. But inasmuch as the order of the works in CB may well correspond with their apparent order of composition, it is not surprising to find certain common features in adjacent members of the set: conjunct motion in the themes of Praeambula 1-3, disjunct motion in 4-6, longer subjects, possessing distinct countersubjects, in 79.'

Formal Considerations ...[I]t was characteristic of Bach that, while in principle retaining the conventions of each genre (such as the use of binary-form movements with dance titles to form a suite), he transformed most of the genres in which he worked by expanding the traditional formal structures and admitting technical and stylistic features borrowed from other genres. Thus... few pieces follow any one model.' [M]any of these pieces [i.e., the Inventions]
Schulenberg, 150. See also Ellwood Derr, "The Two-Part Inventions: Bach's Composer's Vademecum", Music Theory Spectrum (1981) 3:26-48. ' Ibid., 20-21.

255

seem to reflect Bach's acceptance of galant elements- "sigh" figures, expressive "singing melodies" into his keyboard polyphony. This is not to say that the pieces are easy to play.... But the combination of learned and popular elements has certainly helped these pieces win their place in the canon of pedagogic works still taught to keyboard players.' [In the Inventions and Sinfonias, Bach] had created two essentially new genres of keyboard music. Unlike most earlier preludes, the Inventions are true keyboard duettos, somewhat resembling older fughetti, but differing in their technical preoccupations. Here invertible counterpoint is of greater importance than imitation per se, and thus the opening passages usually involve imitation at the octave (or voice exchange) rather than at the fifth. Instructional two-part imitative pieces by earlier composers rarely contain real modulations; most of the Inventions, however, fall into sophisticated yet compact modulating schemes comparable to Bach's larger fugal works. The thematic material is generally lively, the subjects very concise; thus, the Inventions have a modern, galant character, although only the one in B minor (BWV 7 86) has a texture clearly imitating that of a solo sonata for, say, violin and continue." The basic structural principles [of the Inventions] are similar to those of Bach's larger works but realized on a smaller scale; a single phrase here may correspond to an entire section in a larger... movement. For example, an opening phrase generally leads to a cadence in the dominant (or relative major) [This is] analogous to the first half that is, the portion preceding the double bar- of a dance movement or sonata form. The next phrase corresponds to the beginning of the middle ("development") section, and after a third formal articulation [which includes a return to tonic] the piece has delineated a miniature three-part (or an expanded three-phrase) form. Not every piece follows precisely this plan; in Invention No. 9 (F-minor) the first decisive cadence is delayed until the midpoint (bar 17), giving it a binary design [which is entirely appropriate for the formal requirements of a sarabande], while No.2 (C-minor) is, for the most part a strict canon. But the canonic pattern is broken in order to articulate two crucial moments: an arrival on the dominant (bar 11) and the return to tonic (bar 23), the latter coinciding with a Ibid., 149. Ibid., 152. 256

restatement of the theme in its original form. While this return comes very near the end (as it also does in No. 9), in other inventions the final section more closely resembles a true sonata-form recapitulation, inasmuch as the return marks the beginning of a section long enough to balance the first ones (Nos.3 in D, 6 in E, 13 in A minor).' The Inventions in C, d, e, a, and D are dominated by their themes. In each of these themes a perfect fifth is generated Each theme is a forceful articulation of a basic idea Each theme cadences on either the dominant or the mediant The first imitation in each of the theme-dominated Inventions is at the lower octave. Each of these Inventions clearly divides into three sections which are demarcated by strong cadences generally with the characteristic anticipation [Each Invention contains a modulation, but] The D-major Invention is highly atypical of the set in that a second modulation occurs in the middle section.... In each of these final sections. Bach reviews the material and provides further interesting manipulations of the theme.' [The F-major, B-flat-major and C-minor Inventions include extensive use of canonic procedures.] Whereas the bass enters in imitation at the octave in the F-major and C- minor, the bass accompanies the theme of the B-flat and initiates the two canonic passages which occur in the second half of the composition; since these canonic passages seem most important in the composition, the B-flat is included in the category of canonic Inventions. The theme of the C-minor is one of the more extended themes in the Inventions.... [T]he tonal organization of these... [Inventions] is basically the same as in the theme-dominated Inventions. The F-major is atypical in that Bach does not recall the opening material in the final section.... The final section of the C-minor is interesting in that Bach recalls the theme and its counterpoint and then presents these two ideas in stimmtausch [voice exchange] to complete the work thus demonstrating in the final Invention [in the 1720 autograph] the affinity of canonic and stimmtausch procedure.' The Inventions in G, b, A and E-flat are characterized by imitation at the fifth and are thus
' Ibid., 153. ' Walter William Hawthorne, J.S. Bach's Inventions and Sinfonias: An Analysis, diss. (Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 1980), 83-85. ' Ibid., 85.

257

considered to be in fugal procedure. The subject of the G-major is the shortest of the four; the bass entry in the second bar on the dominant is the only instance in the Inventions of the first bass pitch not being the tonic [The subject of the B-minor Invention is given] an accompaniment which clarifies the meter and the Phrygian cadence; this counterpoint IS not used further in the work. In accordance with usual fugal procedure. Bach presents the countersubject against the dominant answer and then uses it with all succeeding statements of the subject. The A- major and E-flat-major subjects lack the consistent motion of the G-major and the B-minor; Bach thus presents the countersubject with the initial statements of those subjects. The A-major subject... is exceptional in that it is heavily ornamented. The E-flat subject seems the most artfully composed if these subjects; it is the only subject which spans three full bars, contains sequential repetition and retrograde summation....The countersubject is clearly derived from the subject and occurs with every statement of the subject.... The fugal inventions can be considered as in the usual three primary sections. Bach provides variety in the tonal organization. The G-minor, F-minor and E-major Inventions are characterized by the repetition of the initial model in [voice exchange]. The procedure is somewhat tentative and obscure in the G-minor since Bach inverts and delays the countertheme in the repetition.... The E-major theme is the only one in the Inventions to originate in the bass.... The countertheme moves in contrary motion to the theme creating a consistent example of fourth species writing. The [voice exchange] Inventions are in binary form; the first principle section of each effects the modulation to the dominant and emphatically cadences in the dominant.... [The Emajor Invention is in rounded binary form.] The use of [voice exchange] is most obvious and consistent in the E-major.. . .' The syncopations in the A-minor, G-minor, and E-major counter-themes are atypical.... The Inventions display the motoric rhythm characteristic of late Baroque music." The harmonic materials used in the Ibid., 85-86. Ibid., 87-88. Ibid., 88. 258 Inventions

dn^Hn^n^H ^^''.^''^^'^^ ^"^ seventh chords, secondary tZn^ I "^ If^ding tone chords, and Neapolitans (Aminor, E-ma]or). Progression is usually by fifthBach provides examples of progression around the circle of fifths (B-flat major. A- major)." According to the Bach Reader, Bach "avoided using 'species' in teaching counterpoint." The Inventions generally consist of second species writing with first and third species introduced periodically for emphasis and variety. Fourth species IS introduced in the G-minor Invention and is exploited in the E-major. The Inventions are contrapuntal-harmonic works.'' As one follows the progression in Wilhelm's Clavier-Buchlein, he sees that Bach systematically develops certain types of Inventions: first, three theme-dominated works [C-major, D-minor, E-minor], then a jolly fugue [F- major] followed by a more substantial theme-dominated work [G-major] and then a more introspective fugal treatment [A-minor]; then the atypical B-flat with its canonic passages followed by a serene, flowing fugal work with its contrasting section in the relative minor [B-minor Hawthorne also classifies the A-major Invention as fugal]; then Bach presents his most severe works in the old [voice exchange] technique [G-minor, Fminor]; and finally, he presents a review of the types of Inventions: the E-major is the last of the [voice exchange] works, the E-flat is fugal, the Dmajor is theme-dominated, and the C-minor is canonic." [Carmen Sabourin's Schenkerian study of the Inventions demonstrates the validity of Ellwood Derr's grouping of the Inventions, in their original order, into five triptychs which are in ascending order of complexity, both in terms of keyboard technique and compositional procedures. Sabourin's condensation of Derr's hypothesis regarding Bach's compositional procedure are as follows:] Each piece within the first triptych of the series [Cmajor, D-minor, E-minor] is built on a scalar theme, which is presented in concatenation with itself in sequence, and subjected to the technique of invertible counterpoint and to melodic inversion. Concatenation here is understood as the linking
Ibid., 89. Ibid. Ibid., 90.

259

a fraa^L^ ? It^'^^t '' ^^^^^ ^ ^^e theme itself or nf TnlTT' r ^^^ ^^^"^^ <^^^ f^ example, mm. 3 and 4 of I/iventio I, p.49). In the second triptych [Fmajor, G-ma^or, A-minor], all three themes are constructed from arpeggio figurations and are developed through extensive motivic transformations; the central triptych [B-minor B-flat major, A-major introduces a quasi-systematic fugue-like type of alternation between subject-countersubject pairs and episodes; the following one [triptych four; G-minor, F-minor, E-major], while retaining the fugue-like format of triptych III, is characterized by the extensive use of chromaticism and syncopation; finally triptych V [E-flat major, D-major, Cminor] summarizes the technical devices exploited in the preceding four groups and concludes with inventlo 2, an almost continuous strict canon.'' Certain of the Two-Part Inventions are based on very broad melodic ideas, termed motives, and others, on broader ideas termed subjects. Numbers One, Four, Seven, Eight, Ten, and Thirteen were the first composed, and these inventions (in C-major and all its closely related keys) generally employ short generating ideas, whereas the remainder employ longer ones (although Numbers Three and Four have ideas of approximately the same length). A contrapuntal accompaniment to the opening idea is found in nine of the fifteen Inventions. " Most of the Inventions are sectional in nature with sections defined either by conclusive-sounding cadences or by recurrence of material which has been modified through transposition and other means; however, continuity is consistently maintained through elision or rhythmic activity which persists from the end of one section into the beginning of another. All are characterized by motivic or thematic unity in conjunction with tonal and contrapuntal variety, and change of tonality is one of the principal means by which contrast is achieved....'"

" Carmen Sabourin, A Schenkerian Study of J.S. Bach's "Two-Part Inventions" Presented in their Original Ordering, diss.,(Ann Arbor, MIrUMI, 1989), 7-10. " Theodore 0. Johnson, An Analytical Survey of the Fifteen TwoPart Inventions by J.S. Bach, (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc., 1982), viii. " Ibid., viii-ix.

260